Fate of the Dragons
by ReclusiveShadows
Summary: With Hiccup's role of 'Chief' on the horizon and a new tension between Berk and several nearby tribes stuck in their old ways, Hiccup, Toothless, and Astrid already have enough problems on their hands. But when a spy from an enemy island 'accidentally' turns Astrid into a Night Fury, things are bound to get a lot more interesting! [ON HIATUS]
1. The Incident

**Hello, everyone!**

 **To start, I just wanted to thank you for taking the time to check out the first chapter of this FanFiction. I hope you all enjoy it, and be sure to leave a review!**

 **I don't own How to Train Your Dragon.**

* * *

Out of all of his duties as Berk's Heir-to-the-Throne, sitting in on council meetings was by far Hiccup's least favorite.

He was more than happy to write letters to neighboring Tribes, clean out the dragon pen, put a stop to whatever mischievous deeds the twins were up to, and even listen to Mildew's ever-lengthening list of complaints about Monstrous Nightmares stealing his cabbages. But the council meetings were something Hiccup had come to hate with a burning passion.

In hindsight, life was easier for Hiccup before Berk made peace with the dragons. His dad was always too embarrassed to take him anywhere in public, and with good reason. The few times he was forced to, there was always an… unfortunate incident of some kind, generally involving a misfired contraption and a herd of sheep running rampant through the town. It had long surpassed being awkward; Hiccup was just walking, talking, bad luck.

But now, he was _important_. Inexperienced Vikings came to him for advice and help with their dragons, parents would come to him and Toothless to congratulate them on their acceptance as part of the tribe, and kids would bring him endless questions about how he had single-handedly defeated the Green Death (Though he appreciated the gesture, he couldn't help but wince at the stories of how he had learned to breathe fire and fly from the dragons). He was even expected to take on the role of _Chief_ , some day. Despite the fact that this was probably always going to happen regardless of Hiccup's social status, there'd been a change in the mood of Berk towards him. Now people were willing to acknowledge the fact and, gods forbid, some were even _happy_ about it. Though Hiccup didn't quite view it as the amazing inheritance everyone in town envied him for, he couldn't deny that he was glad to at least no longer be seen as the village screw-up — though, that wasn't to say he'd fallen out of old habits, of course.

Though he had never been told so formally, everyone in the village knew about his right to the title, and Hiccup knew just as well as anyone else that he would one day have to accept the terrifying fate.

 _Just not today,_ He thought, scrutinizing his drink. Scrunching his eyebrows and glancing up from his beaten-up mug of watered-down mead, he brought his mind out of his thoughts.

His father was trying to settle a fight gone hostile that had broken out between Sven and Mildew over wintertime ration distribution in the case of a blizzard, though it didn't seem to be going well.

Due to the worn and tired look on his father's face, it was rather obvious that Stoick had tried every diplomatic option, but couldn't get a word in edgewise. With a mustered expression of supremacy, the Chief sighed, pulled out his hammer, and slammed it down onto the table with more power than a Night-Fury's blast. Hiccup jumped as several of the nails long imbedded within the hardwood table popped out of their sockets, splinters flying several feet across the room as the Hammer made its mark. Hiccup was more than surprised that the thin boards didn't simply collapse inwards, however, Viking craftsmanship was bound to become… adaptable, as the years progressed.

Every Viking's head snapped to the Chief. This, of course, included Svenn and Mildew, and they began to untangle themselves from the strange and pathetic fight they had gotten them into. Stoick elevated his chin ever so slightly, the semi-braided strands of his long red beard raising in unison.

"ENOUGH!" The Chief's voice alone could have grabbed the village's attention - the hammer was simply for emphasis. "We have bigger problems on our hands, and your bickering is too petty for a meeting as serious as this." Svenn's head lowered in shame, but Mildew only _tsk_ -ed and muttered something incomprehensible under his breath.

The Chief narrowed his eyes at Mildew, and proceeded to sweep his eyes across the rest of the large hall, daring anyone else to come forth with another complaint. When no one spoke up, his challenging expression cleared, and he nodded, satisfied.

"You all know of the Veiklaðar tribe?" A wave of muttering spread throughout the crowd at the mention of the hostile, neighboring clan, who'd gone from annoying and stubborn to dangerously opposed in the past few months. Whilst they had been neutral enough during the war, the small tribe had refused contact since their first diplomatic mission to the island, and they hadn't heard anything from them since.

"The whole lot of 'em have been becoming more and more bitter ever since we made peace with the dragons," his father continued. "First they refused our trade offers, then cut off _all_ attempts at communication, and now our scouts have reported that they're amassing their fleet for an assault!" The candles and firepit in the Great Hall flickered, as another wave of muttering broke throughout the chamber. While everyone knew that the Veiklaðar tribe had a small armada compared to Berk — who now had dragons to protect them, as well — a full on assault, if executed correctly, could lead to deadly consequences for the Berkian natives. "Now, I know some of you have old friends in their tribe. Believe me, I should know better than anyone else," a rare glimpse of emotional turmoil was revealed on Stoick's face for a moment, before it was replaced with his usual, well, stoic demeanor. "But until we can find some way to solve this, we must treat them only as enemies." _A chief protects his own,_ Hiccup recalled him once saying. Though he understood the importance of this, he couldn't help but think that some of his father's decisions in situations like these had been rather... rash, to say the very least.

"This is our problem, see?" A horribly familiar, creaky old voice ascended those hushed in the room, causing the scattered remaining warriors to go quiet. Hiccup groaned.

"As per _usual_ , the problems all lead down to the blasted dragons. They're not meant to be around us!" Mildew croaked, stepping forward and pointing at Hiccup. He had recovered from his brief fight with Sven, and was, as usual, fully prepared to argue a useless topic once again. "We need them off this island!" At this, he turned around, and several Vikings, unidentifiable in the crowd, muttered their assent. A few even began raising fists.

Hiccup groaned. "We're much better off at peace with the dragons, Mildew. Why do you even care so much, anyway?"

As head of Dragon related events and issues, - just another one of the roles his Dad had been assigning him lately. As if the pressure of his everyday life wasn't enough - he was expected to resolve any dragon-related problems within the tribe, which was, not all too surprisingly, a much broader field than Hiccup had initially expected.

He wasn't lying when he said that they were better off than before - in his opinion, that was. The dragon raids _had_ been Berk's foremost issue, and with that gone and the dragons actually _helping_ Berk's production, it was hard for anyone to find too many problems with the dragons that didn't have good sides to them as well. Anyone, that was, except Mildew.

The old man ground his teeth together, scrunching his unkempt eyebrows into a straight line and opened his mouth. "You need to learn some manners, _boy._ When I was your-"

"Thank you, Mildew," The Chief cut him off, "but I think you could do to learn a few manners as well, isn't that right?" Staring at Mildew first, Stoick surveyed the several hundred people crowded into the hall once again, shooting daggers at those with their fists still raised, probably causing them to lower their arms and take a sudden interest in their boots.

With one final glare at the Village Chief, and Hiccup, Mildew whipped around and stormed back into the crowd.

Resting his head back in his chair, Stoick continued as though nothing had happened, "Right, Then. Now as to this week's patrol groups..."

After much discussion of various battle plans, most too unrealistic to even consider, the meeting was called to a close until further notice.

On the way out of the hall, Hiccup managed to pull his father aside.

"Dad, I could have handled Mildew on my own, you know. I know how to reason with people. Even Mildew - it's what I do."

His father creased his eyebrows and set his hand on Hiccup's right shoulder. "I know, son. I'm sorry. It's just that… I don't want you taking _all_ of these responsibilities onto yourself. I'm not gone yet, you know."

Brushing off his last comment, Hiccup replied "It's just Mildew, Dad. I've dealt with him before."

His father sighed, and stared down at his feet. "I… Just…" He grimaced. "Be careful, alright, Hiccup?"

He smiled up at his father and nodded slightly, before turning toward the door.

Astrid was leaning against Toothless when Hiccup trudged out among the rest of the weary vikings. She would sit in on meetings from time to time, though she often had other things to attend to. What those things were, Hiccup could only guess.

"Hey, dragon-boy," Astrid punched him in the arm, though a smirk was on her lips.

When asked about it, Hiccup would oftentimes just say that he and Astrid were no more than friends. Though he couldn't deny that their relationship had become closer and closer as the weeks passed, to the point where Hiccup didn't know what to call his... situation, with her.

"Stormfly's back home eating some chicken," she nodded her head down into the village. "How was the meeting?"

"Tedious, as per usual," Hiccup replied. Something about her voice always lifted him up from his low points, though he could never quite say what it was.

"Oh yeah? Well, I thought that later on, we might be able to- WOAH!" Whatever she was about to say next, Hiccup would never know, as Toothless had leaped out to jump on him from behind Astrid, leaving her to fall not-so-gracefully onto her rear. It was out of sheer luck that she didn't go tumbling down the great stone steps leading up to the Great Hall. Then again, she was far more balanced than he. She probably could have cartwheeled down, if she'd wanted to...

The Night Fury proceeded to lick Hiccup until he was sure that he'd acquired no injuries during the meeting. Toothless might have been let into the Great Hall, if not for an unfortunate dragon-sneeze related fire that had happened just a few weeks before. As many times as he had apologized, his father and Gobber had refused to let Toothless in the Council Chambers since that day.

"Sorry, Astrid" Hiccup apologized, climbing out from under Toothless.

"It's alright," Astrid laughed, "I doubt Toothless _enjoyed_ being away from you for so long, anyways."

It was true- where he hadn't seen Astrid very much lately, he and Toothless had been closer together than ever, going out on as many flights as they could before curfew, and even then stretching their limits in what was definable as "sunset," something Hiccup was more than used to, by that point.

"That reminds me," he remembered. "You and I are on the, uh, night patrol. I kind of... Signed us up for it..."

Astrid crossed her arms and rolled her eyes in the purest form of annoyance. Hiccup could only brace himself for the scolding he had expected from the moment he volunteered them.

"Why do you always do this Hiccup? You might be chief someday, but you can't just keep wearing yourself out with these things," she chided. "Besides, couldn't you just get someone else to do it?"

Hiccup stared at the ground and brought his hand up to the back of his neck.

"Well, both Fishlegs _and_ Meatlug are afraid of flying in the dark. Uh, Snotlout doesn't really understand the whole "productive work," concept, and the twins—"

Astrid cut him off with a wave of her hand. "Enough said. It's difficult to stay mad at you as it is. Just… Try not to get yourself wrapped up in so many things, alright?"

Hiccup smiled at her, though refused to say any more words on the matter. "Alright. Now here's the scouting route," he replied, pulling out a map.

* * *

Though she didn't have a perfect vantage point for viewing the Dragon Conqueror and his Night Fury, a shadow was all Syl needed to stay concealed.

 _Troublemaker,_ she thought. _What an absurd name. My mother knows that I'm the only person on the island that could pull this off. Hell, the whole island knows it. Bjarke and the rest of his crew couldn't hope to come within a mile of Berk without being spotted. That's why they wanted me,_ she smiled, _that's why they_ need _me._

Technically speaking, her reputation as a firebrand wasn't entirely false. For almost as long as she could remember, she had been, ah, _borrowing_ things from people. Stealing was a word she reserved for herself - the former sounded better when she was caught in the act, which was… More often than she would have liked, in honesty. Sometimes it was just a slice of bread, other times a family heirloom… Regardless, she had experience in almost every situation, even if she hadn't quite mastered the 'getting away quickly,' part. But when she did… They never found her. And if what she had seen on Berk that day was any indication of their skill when it came to finding the culprit, or pursuit… Her work was practically done already.

As to why the village wanted the Chief taken out, _that_ she could understand; dragons had plagued her Village and all of the islands she knew for years — to live with them, make peace with them, and invite them into their homes was more than a crime: it was a sin. It could _not_ be forgiven, nor even tolerated. Death was a very permanent solution, she knew, but a sure one.

Unfortunately, they had only wanted for her to use _this_ particular opportunity to gather information on him. Idiots. She had a much better plan.

The boy was the real problem — that was clear to anyone with half a brain on her island. He was the head of the snake, the one who had started it all. His death would be catastrophic, would send the whole island into turmoil — though most seemed to be convinced, there were still some who were less than happy with the village's more recent changes. And if they weren't going to deal with it themselves, nor the spineless louts on her own island... She would have to take matters into her own hands.

Of course, her task would also have been simpler if not for the little factor of the very offspring of lightning and death itself constantly guarding him. She had heard _more_ than enough about it. The Night Fury's fall, the boy's taming it… They treated the kid like some sort of legend. Well, not for much longer.

The girl, on the other hand, seemed to be a warrior or shieldmaiden of some degree — something Syl had at least a grudging respect for, if paired with a bit of envy. She'd only been watching the two of them for a few minutes, but it was clear that she had an air of leadership and confidence about her, with the stubborn Viking attitude to enforce it. Perhaps she wouldn't have to take her down either, though she _did_ seem like the kind of girl that could easily get in the way of her plans...

Shaking herself out of her thoughts, Syl realized that each of their voices was increasing in pitch — indicating an argument, as she knew all-too-well — and so she edged out of the shadows to listen.

"...go back to Thor's Rock? We'll already have passed over it several times by then, and besides, there's no way any sane Viking would ever plan an invasion there. We can just make another trip North of Raven's point and head back to the village."

"But what if they circled around the seas stacks? The cove there would be the perfect place for an invasion."

"Hiccup, it's almost as difficult to get around the sea stacks as it is to maneuver through Helheim's Gate. Their boats would have to be tiny - it would take months for them to get even _half_ of an army in there. It'd be just plain… Idiotic, really."

"Fine," Hiccup replied, sounding quite tired. "Toothless and I will circle around Thor's Rock before we come back. You can fly back to Berk without me,"

There was a pause, before the girl replied, "Fine. But I don't want to stay out too late. There's something coming - I can feel it."

Hiccup laughed. "What are you so worried about? I'll have you, Stormfly and Toothless with me. It'll be fine!"

Syl couldn't believe her luck. Sure, a more precise location would've been nice, though with what she overheard, a simple bait-and-switch trap would do the trick. She had seen a small map of the island in the Blacksmith's shop earlier - she would have no trouble getting there. The Night Fury, however, could present a problem—

A yelp, followed by an unsettling purr caught her attention. "Are you okay, Astrid?" Hiccup asked.

 _So that's the girl's name._ Syl made an internal note for reference, just in case, though she still didn't know who this 'Toothless' was. _Though I doubt I'll ever need to hear either again._

"Yeah, it's only a scratch. Toothless didn't mean anything by it." This was followed by another one of those eerie purrs, that was both comforting and frightening to Syl at the same time. Shrugging off her chills, she started making her way back to the Blacksmith. She had work to do.

* * *

Half an hour later, Astrid walked out of Gothi's hut with a bandage around her arm.

She had neglected to nurture the cut for most of the day, having other duties to attend to — many of which Hiccup had signed her up for — but the wound had persisted, hurting more and more as the minutes went by, rather than healing as she expected it to, until it was such a distraction from her work that she had to do something about it.

Gothi was the best healer in the village by far, with one downside — she couldn't speak, or at least didn't like to. Why that was, nobody was quite sure. Some openly told stories of an adventurous upbringing, in which she never learned quite how to speak, whilst others whispered tales of an ancient dragon attack leading her tongue to be sliced off. Some even believed that she had been like that since birth. But no one, not Chieftains of the past or the present knew exactly _why_ she didn't talk, and none dared to ask her.

Because of this, there always had to be someone in the village who knew how to read and write runes, numbers, and orthography. Luckily, Astrid's generation had several literates, and she was one of them, though she had never truly taken an interest in reading. Hiccup and Fishlegs had persuaded her to from time to time, and she did when it was necessary, though she simply tended to have better things to do.

Nevertheless, it had proven more than useful on several occasions, and this was one of them.

Astrid wasn't surprised to find Stormfly gone when she left Gothi's house. She had left her a few cooked chicken legs at their house for dinner, which she had traded for from one of the island's farms. One way or another, her dragon likely wouldn't be coming back to get her unless there was an emergency of some sort.

 _Guess I'm walking back,_ she sighed.

The scratch Toothless had given her still itched terribly beneath the cloth wrappings, though the pain from before had remarkably almost completely disappeared. Gothi had seemed quite contented with the mixture she had used for Astrid's cut, and she was already beginning to see why.

Trudging down the mountain toward the town, and deep in thought as she was, she didn't notice a large, black dragon and its rider descending rapidly from the sky onto her position.

"Hey-"

Astrid whipped around to find the source of the voice, moving her hand up to grab her axe before realizing that she had left it home. _Useless,_ she chastised herself. _If this was a real ambush, I would have been dead or captured by now._

Technically, she wasn't being entirely fair with herself. Since they had made peace with the dragons, Berk was twice as strong as it had been before, making it virtually impossible to launch a frontal attack against them. That was, unless you had a force more powerful than anything Berkians had ever seen… Though this too was very unlikely. The only dragon Astrid had ever seen that could rival Hiccup and Toothless in combat was the Green Death, and even it had been defeated by them. Then again, with the Veiklaðar tribe on the rise...

Despite the fact that he was sitting on a several-hundred-pound fire breathing reptile facing an unarmed girl, Hiccup automatically threw up his hands. _Habits die harder than dragons,_ Astrid smirked, thinking about an old saying that Vikings had. _Just another that should be changed, what with the recent changes around,_ Astrid frowned, making a note of it.

Saying it was difficult to adapt after the war would be quite an understatement, though the natives of the island had taken it much better than some of the neighboring tribes. Despite their long-time rivalries with nearby islands, Hiccup and Stoick together had managed to convince the majority of them not to attack any wild dragons they saw unless provoked by them, but only after sailing out to many of them individually as proof. Still, it wasn't much different from how it had been before, but it was a start.

"I was just wondering if you wanted a ride home," Hiccup asked.

"Thanks, but I think I can handle myself," she replied, rolling her eyes. Sometimes, Hiccup was just _too_ nice about these things, if that was possible.

"It would save you twenty minutes of walking. Plus, we could, I don't know, talk about your day, or whatever girls like to do?"

"Hiccup-" Astrid began.

"Just… Please, take it as an apology from Toothless and I. It was an accident, but I don't want it to happen again. And neither do you, right bud?" Ears pinned down against his head, Toothless looked back at Astrid with eyes more innocent than a babe's. There had been plenty of occasions where it was hard to believe that this was the very offspring of Lightning and Death itself, and this was one of them.

Rolling her eyes once again, Astrid climbed onto the back of Toothless's saddle, swatting Hiccup's hand away when he offered to help her up. Still, she wrapped her arms around his waist, and leaned against him as he clicked the tailfin into place.

Toothless launched into the air, beelining for the Village. The itch only got worse.

It was little more than a hasty scratch the dragon had made on her arm when they were discussing their patrol route. Neither of them was paying attention, when Toothless had turned away from the maps towards a shaded corner outside of the hall just a bit too quickly for Astrid to react to, cutting her arm with one of his claws in the process. Nothing, really - Stormfly scratched her all the time. Though that was to be expected from a dragon who had spikes running along her entire body.

Toothless landed a few feet away from her abode, so as not to startle Stormfly or spook the nearby livestock.

"Thanks, Hiccup," Astrid said, smiling at him as she hopped off.

"Oh… Uh, no problem, Astrid," Hiccup replied, eyes darting to his saddle.

Astrid's smile turned somber at that. Though Hiccup had changed some, he was still the under-confident, quirky boy she had known a few years ago underneath his newfound confidence. Even a dragon couldn't hide that.

As soon as she had turned away, the two were already in the air again.

"Oh, and make sure Stormfly's saddle is secured," he yelled back through the wind. "We leave for patrols in five minutes!"

Syl didn't have time to admire her handiwork, other than to test that the trap would work properly. Once that was done, she quickly packed up what remained of her supplies, and headed off in the direction of the ship she was assigned to report back to. She had been stuck on the wretched island for a whole day. Luckily, that was all she needed to figure out how to eliminate the threat.

The mechanics of the trap were simple enough— A switch that was activated by a slight change in tension, which would pour a vase of lethal acid hidden in the tree above — her own mixture — onto the victim. A powder may have been more effective, but that was expensive, and guaranteed nothing, where this would be a doubtless and satisfying kill. She had left a little surprise for the Night Fury, as well. Oh, if that dragon really _was_ attached to the weakling boy... Well, it would easily be the cruelest thing she had ever done. Still, if it meant revenge on the one who had made a false peace with _dragons…_ It would all be worth it.

Unfortunately, she wouldn't be able to watch her plan unfold — if the dragon could… Smell her nearby, not only would the whole plan go awry; she could be killed, or caught. Each possibility was equally terrifying in her mind.

Running through the forest and thinking about these things as she was, Syl very nearly fell over the precipice of the ledge that served as the camouflage for the cove she had chosen as a rendezvous point.

Hiccup was right in thinking that Thor's rock would be an ideal place for an invasion; that had almost been chosen as the rendezvous spot, until Syl had warned her idiotic travelling companions otherwise.

It was true that she had been raised among them — once — though she personally didn't consider herself as a person who _belonged_ to anyone, and had considered in plenty of instances some ideas that included a dark night, a small rowboat that wouldn't be easily seen, and whatever other low-life tribes she could live out the rest of her life in. Yet… She couldn't bring herself to leave them. She had no honorable ties to them, nor any respect, really. But _he…_ _He_ would want her to stay. And so she did.

 _And they… They need me, that's why,_ She reassured herself. _If I wasn't there, they wouldn't ever get any information on Berk. Their plans revolve around my willingness to go through with them_.

Still, it seemed odd that her mother had enlisted her for this so suddenly - for the past few years of her life, she had done nothing but yell at her or ignore her altogether. Yet just a few days before, she had sent her on a mission to Berk. And not just any mission, either - a quest of _espionage,_ one that Syl had fancied and played out in her mind hundreds of times over, only dreaming that she might one day get the chance. Yet here she was. It seemed almost too good to be true.

But who knew? Maybe, if her mother was pleased with the information she'd acquired, as well as the elimination of one of their newfound enemies, they could actually get along again. Maybe they would stop calling her Syl in their mocking tones and treating her like such an _outcast..._

The cove was surrounded fully by trees, and had cliffs around half of it, making it nearly impossible to see, unless one was on top of it. Besides that, there was a small ship anchored just off of the rocky beach, with one or two foreign vikings stationed near some boulders on the shore, talking, drinking mead; Anything but what they should have been doing. If anyone from Berk caught them, they wouldn't be competent enough to make up a valid excuse as to why they were there. Not to mention the main sail of the ship — still the "old" style of a dragon being pierced by a sword on a gray field.

In any event, Syl was able to move well into the cove before they realized she was there.

"Halt! State your business here," One of the vikings said, finally noticing her. He held out his bludgeon, his facial expressions quickly becoming as serious as a drunken Viking's could be.

"Come on, Bjarke, you know who I am," she crossed her arms. "If it was anyone else coming in here, you'd be dead by now."

Bjarke's eyes narrowed. "What'd ye find?" His voice was so husky some said there was a rock stuck in his throat, and his heavy-set physical appearance accompanied by the uncombed beard was… Less than attractive, to say the least. Most ladies he even tried to talk to would generally run screaming before he could open his mouth.

"Oh, well, for starters, you might be pleased to know that while you were out here getting drunk, _I_ spent my time _saving our tribe_." she replied confidently.

Bjarke's eyes widened in surprise and confusion. "Ye killed all the dragons?"

The sheer level of ignorance of Vikings would never fail to astound Syl.

"No... But I set an _unassailable_ trap for this 'Dragon Conqueror' of yours. He certainly doesn't look the part, to say the least. Outside of the Night Fury, I doubt he's much of a threat when it comes to battle."

At this, some muttering broke out in the vikings behind her, eventually escalating into casual conversation, then finally, yelling.

"Ye' saw the Night Fury _and_ the dragon conqueror?"

"I heard the beast is fifty feet long, with eyes that can pierce into your _soul_."

"My cousin Calder says he saw one once! Then again, he also says the world's just a giant ball—"

"QUIET!" Bjarke yelled back to all of them, turning to her with a wary expression, a whisper that didn't quite fit on his lips. "Did it follow ye' here?"

Syl rolled her eyes. " _Of course_ it didn't. None of us would be here if it had."

Bjarke stroked the frayed and uneven braids of his beard.

"Interesting. What else have ye' learned about the dragon conqueror?" He asked.

Syl went into as detailed an explanation as she thought Bjarke and the others could understand the layout of Berk's defenses and weaknesses, and of course, the dragon conqueror known now as Hiccup.

When she finished, some of the Vikings began to file back onto the ship. "And Stoick the Betrayer? The Chief of the Village?" Bjarke raised an eyebrow, a suspicion already confirmed in his mind's eye.

Syl forced herself to keep looking at the barbaric, hairy man standing in front of her. "I… um... Wasn't able to find out much of anything about him, but-"

"I think I've heard enough, _girl_ ," Bjarke said it with a sneer, and turned to get onto the ship. "Yer' assignment was to bring back news about Stoick the Betrayer, not this... _dragon conqueror._ "

Syl's mouth dropped open in pure bewilderment. "You are _kidding_ , right? I've brought the tribe _invaluable_ information about the dragons and defenses in Berk, and I can _guarantee_ that the dragon conqueror will be killed within the next few hours. He's, like, enemy number one, isn't he? What've you done that's been any use to the village in the past ten years?"

Bjarke spun around quicker than she realized he could, obviously sobered. "Listen to me, _girl._ I've lived with my people for thirty-two winters, and I've never seen a girl who ain't 'spossed to be livin' among us more than ' _ye,_ and ya know what? Yer' mother thinks so, _too,_ " Bjarke nodded to the other Vikings, and they began loading onto the ship and preparing to sail, as Syl's heart sunk down to her stomach.

"Maybe ye' can learn somethin' from the fools on this island. All I know is that Brenna don't want 'ye in our village no more. No more than anyone else do, fer' that matter. Yer' traps and tricks… We had hope for ye' once. You were just a girl — but yer' not, not anymore. We may not be able to kill ye… But a few years in exile will do just fine. Yer' kind don't belong with us. Ye' don't belong with _anyone._ "

With that, he boarded the ship, along with the few remaining Vikings still on the rocky beach, and pushed the ship into the water with several paddles.

Snapping out of her shock, Syl ran to the rocky coast and waded into the knee-deep water, desperately trying to reach the retreating vessel.

"You… You don't know what you're up against! I lied, okay? The conqueror, he really is huge, and he… Agh!" she tripped over something in the now waist-high sea, splashing down into the bitter saltiness of the sea below her. She screamed, gasping for air, as a wave splashed over her head, drenching her clothes, and filling her eyes and lungs. The waves continued carrying her back into shore as the ship grew further away.

The remaining Vikings on the boat drew their oars from the deck, ignoring her, and thrust them out into the water. A deep, echoing drum began to beat, when Syl finally gave up her struggle in the waves.

"YOU NEED ME!" She cried out. Her vision was only beginning to recover, though she had at least gotten close enough to the shore that the waves only lapped around her ankles and hands.

Only Bjarke's outline was visible in the fog, which was quickly consuming the boat as it reached the sea stacks. "Y've more than served yer' purpose, 'er at least done what we expected ye' to. Brenna can see what yer' becomin'. She don't like it, and neither do I, nor the rest of the village. Yer' faulty traps, and stealing from yer' _own people?!_ Who would do a thing like that? The point is, if you ever show your face in the village again, you'll be treated like any enemy would be." Whatever he said next faded into the enveloping maw of the fog, and the crashing of the waves and distant beat of the drum were all she could hear through her muffled, water-drenched ears.

Syl, by this time, had clambered her way out of the rising tide, desperate to be out of the water — the same waters that had killed her father.

After screaming into the encroaching gray void for several minutes, Syl finally collapsed onto the rocky ground of that stupid, _wretched_ island as the tide receded and advanced, her hair like a veil draped over her head, and broke into tears. She sat there and cried quietly for what felt like hours, taking no notice when it started to rain.

* * *

Perched on Stormfly, Astrid peered as far as she could across the island. A heavy fog was rolling in from the North, with storm clouds not far behind. It would likely reach Berk before Twilight— something Astrid knew she would be responsible for warning the village about later on.

Though it hadn't quite set yet, the sun had long since begun its descent below the edge of the existence. This, combined with the already overcast day, reinforced Astrid's fear that it was about to become very, _very_ dark, very soon. It was true that Stormfly was able to see quite well in the dark, and Toothless even better, (though she would _never_ let Hiccup and Toothless hear her say that; she had too much pride in her dragon) but in a thunderstorm, Neither of the trainers could see even a few feet in front of them, nor could their dragons fly well.

Just hovering below the cloud level, Astrid had to yell to Hiccup over the wind, despite the fact that they were as close to each other as their dragon's wingspans could allow.

"THERE'S A STORM COMING! WE'LL NEED TO HEAD BACK SOON!"

"WHAT?" He asked, cupping his hand around his ear.

"I SAID, THERE'S A STORM COMING!" She yelled back, her vocal chords straining to be louder. Hiccup nodded.

"I SAW! WE'LL JUST MAKE A FEW MORE LOOPS AROUND THE ISLAND, CHECK ON THOR'S ROCK, THEN HEAD BACK AND WAIT FOR THE STORM TO PASS!"

Astrid nodded reluctantly, and Stormfly dove back down towards the water, Hiccup following close behind.

They'd been flying for what seemed to be hours, and though she knew it wasn't, she was already growing tired. It wasn't that Astrid didn't enjoy flying, nor did she miss the Twins' schemes and incompetence, or Snotlout constantly finding new ways to flirt with her, but patrols were just so utterly _boring._ They had already circled the island seven times, several in which Hiccup deemed it necessary to search through coves and islands, even some of the smaller caves, at times. Though they had found absolutely nothing hinting at the smallest sign of an invasion. Astrid's eyes had already been sprayed to the point of tears by the salty air, and the prospect of going to Thor's rock _again_ was not an exciting one.

Suddenly, Astrid became aware of Hiccup yelling something frantically to her from atop Toothless, and she dragged herself out of her thoughts.

He was pointing towards a long field cutting through the forest several hundred feet below them. Although Astrid couldn't see anything too alarming, she trusted Hiccup's instincts, and thus followed him as he and Toothless went into a dive.

Closer to the ground, Astrid could see a small shape darting in and out of the rocks and bushes near the edge of the clearing— it was running away from them.

"Stormfly, spike trap... Now!" At this, her dragon launched a volley of spikes in front of the quickly escaping… Girl. Astrid could see long black hair flowing behind the escaping intruder, falling out of protective braids meticulously folded behind her head. _Only a girl could have that much patience_ , Astrid thought, smirking. She had never been one for fashion herself, always favoring the more practical, but that hadn't stopped the women of the village from trying to instill a sense of elegance in her since birth.

The girl easily bounded over the spikes lodged in front of her, almost as if she had... Anticipated them.

Astrid didn't have time to think about it— the girl was quickly approaching a more dense part of the forest. If she was able to reach it in time, they would have to follow on foot, as their dragons wouldn't be able to fly through the tightly-packed trees.

They were about to lose her, when Hiccup went to his final resort: he pulled up on Toothless, with his claws poised in front of him, pulling his wings close to his body, ready to grab her. A little extreme, even for him, but if she _was_ up to something—

But At the last possible moment, the girl heaved herself to the right, jumping into some nearby brush for cover. Toothless, in confusion, instinctively went into a roll, disregarding his rider.

"TOOTHLESS!" Hiccup screamed, tumbling off of his dragon's back and onto the ground, whilst Toothless dove face-first into the ground in a panic.

"Hiccup!" Astrid screamed.

Stormfly made a hasty, less than graceful landing, the chase forgotten.

Jumping off Stormfly, Astrid sprinted to Hiccup, who was sitting on the ground, holding his stunted leg in a not-quite-right position, grimacing in pain.

"Hiccup! What happened? Are you okay?"

Hiccup talked through his teeth, wincing with every word he spoke. "Fine… Will... Get better… Just... Get… Girl…" Remembering the girl, Astrid whirled around in the direction of the bushes, only to see a tuft of hair quickly disappearing into the woods.

"No, Hiccup, you're more important. We'll catch her late—"

Hiccup grabbed onto her side with his left hand, looking up at her with a fierce determination in his eyes that she rarely saw.

"Just… Go… Please…" He grimaced, and went back down into a protective position.

Disheartened, Astrid had run back to Stormfly, and was climbing up into the saddle, before Hiccup yelled out, then shrieked in pain from the effort.

"No! Ah… Take Toothless… Faster…"

Though she would never admit it to his face, Astrid knew that Toothless was twice as fast as any other dragon on Berk, even with a mechanical tail. In turn, Hiccup rarely bragged about Toothless' incredible speed, or even talked about it.

Hesitantly, Astrid walked over to Toothless, who had righted himself after his own rough landing, and was sniffing at Hiccup's leg with concern.

Placing her hand on his snout first, she climbed onto his intricately-crafted saddle, sliding her foot into the tailfin adjustment mechanism.

It clicked uselessly a few times, before it finally caught. It was then that Toothless seemed to take note of what she wanted to do, and he growled at Hiccup, refusing to take off.

"No… Bud," he frowned. "I'll be fine… Really… I'll have Stormfly, here... Just go and find her for me… I'll be right here..."

He purred at him again before, with clear reluctance, spreading his wings.

The two of them launched into the air.

Her eyes instinctively went back at Hiccup and Stormfly on the ground. She saw him look up at her and smile, before grimacing and turning his attention back to his leg.

Astrid was brought back to attention by Toothless, who was screeching in her direction to signify that his tailfin needed to be changed for whatever he was about to do.

Astrid adjusted her footing again and clicked it into position, assuming that was what Toothless needed it to be in.

With one final look down at Hiccup and Stormfly, Astrid turned her eyes back to the forest, searching for any sign of the trespasser. She knew Stormfly would keep Hiccup safe, and doubted the girl would be stupid enough to return to the clearing, but Hiccup's safety wasn't what she was worried about. Astrid knew Toothless would likely kill her if anything happened to Hiccup while they were out searching, and that he could be at his side in a matter of seconds if he thought he was in trouble, but still...

Brushing her thoughts aside once again, Astrid grabbed onto Toothless's saddle as he flew over the trees, in pursuit of the intruder.

* * *

Astrid groaned, and Toothless purred quietly in response.

They had searched the forest and hills for well over an hour, circling over Hiccup a few times to ensure his continued well-being, to no avail.

Whoever this trespasser was, Astrid had to give her credit on her hiding skills. It was hard enough to evade Astrid as it was, but with Toothless's eyesight, hearing, scent, and flight-advantage, she had expected they would have found her moments after taking off.

Hiccup's words from a short landing to check on him still clouded her mind. His leg seemed to have been better — somewhat — and Astrid hadn't seen any external injuries, though that could be both good _or_ bad, or both. Astrid remembered him saying something about a pin, though nothing beyond that. At the very least, he was able to make full sentences again.

"Are you sure you don't want to take Toothless?" Astrid asked him. She didn't mind riding on Toothless, though she would have preferred for him to be at Hiccup's side, and so would the Night Fury, judging solely based on a number of times he had looked back in Hiccup's direction during the search.

"I don't think it would be very safe for me to fly on him right now, with my leg like it is," he'd responded, frowning at his man-made addition. "Just make one more- _agh_ -trip around on Toothless. Then we'll head back to the Village, and Dad can get a proper search party out. We _need_ to find that girl. She's not from Berk, she _can't_ be. And you saw — the way she dodged Stormfly's spikes… It's like she _anticipated_ them, knew they were coming. Who knows what else she's learned about our tribe, our defenses, our _dragons_?"

Astrid had only nodded. Standing above her protective instinct to fly him back to Gothi's and fix whatever was wrong with him as fast as she could, she had to agree that finding this intruder was just as important for their tribe. And yet…

"Hiccup, I just want to know you're okay. I know finding her is important, but…" her words had trailed off, as Hiccup looked up at her with eyes so warm, that they could rival Toothless's own.

"I'll be fine. Stormfly is one of the fastest and most dangerous dragons on the island. Nothing will happen to us. Now, _find that girl!_ " With little more than a curt nod, Astrid turned and rushed back to Toothless, heaving herself onto his saddle.

"And, Astrid?" His voice had caught. "Uh… Be careful, okay? I… I don't want anything to happen to you," He had looked at his leg sheepishly, until his expression turned back to frustration.

Giving him a smile, Astrid had turned her head back to the sky, and dragon and rider took off into the sky.

That had been half an hour ago. Desperate to find the girl before sunset, Astrid had flown Toothless to every place she hadn't looked yet on the island. The sky darkened as the sun receded and the storm clouds moved frighteningly closer to the island. Judging only by its size, it would likely end up being the largest storm Berk would see that fall, perhaps even all year.

Lying back on Toothless mid-air, Astrid sighed to herself. They had been searching for _eons._ How hard could it really be to find—

A glimmer below her somehow managed to catch her eye. The very fact that she had seen _anything_ at all amazed her, and above Thor's Rock, of all places!

"Toothless, take us down to… whatever that is," she told him with newfound energy. It was still nearly impossible to see what it was, but it was quite obviously, well, shiny. Was the girl really stupid enough to leave something out like that?

Toothless landed on the edge of the clearing on the opposite side of the mysterious object. Astrid hopped off of the Night Fury and surveyed the area. An ambush was unlikely, but still always a possibility. Though none of the warning signs for an attack were present, Astrid figured it wouldn't hurt to tread carefully here. Together, she and Toothless crept around the edge of the small clearing, each as quiet as a mouse, until they reached the object.

It was a shield. Not a specifically ornate one, though enough to create the glimmer she had seen hundreds of feet above it. But it seemed familiar, for some reason… Of course! It was one of Berk's own training shields. Why, she'd used it time and time again back in the arena, only months ago.

She reached down and started to pick it up. _Honestly,_ she wondered, _Why would someone leave—_

There was a harsh _CLICK_ as she picked it up, and the sound of something snapping. Toothless screeched.

Oh, _NO._


	2. The Unholy Offspring

**Hello everyone! I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter, and most of February to go along with it. This chapter is, admittedly shorter that the first, but It'll hopefully be more monumental in the long run. Anyways, I hope that you all**

 **One more thing: I Digress. A lot. I'm trying to work on it, but it's difficult not to think about things that will be happening much later in the story. Thanks!  
** **How to Train Your Dragon is property of Dreamworks Animation SKG Inc., and Cressida Cowell.**

* * *

As many times as Astrid would come to look back at that day, at those few, unbelievably impactful moments in time, she could never quite say _exactly_ what happened, though she did her best to tell the tale later on, when all was said and done.

The first thing she could remember was pain. A burning liquid hotter than dragonfire had spilled on top of her, and the only description for it she could think of was that it was _eating_ her, gnawing away at any surface on her body that it touched. Luckily, the majority of the liquid had missed her head, but was quickly chewing through her shoulder protectors, which weren't designed with acid-spilling buckets in mind. She was vaguely aware of _something_ flying towards Toothless, (who was already quite frantic at the time) before he was torn out of her line of sight. As she desperately ripped at her armor in an attempt to prevent the acid from touching the parts of her body that had been untouched by the liquid, a single drop from the vase (which was still somehow balanced in the tree) fell onto her arm… Right next to her ugly, puss-filled scar, still concealed under the now rotted, crumbling bandage.

 _HEAT._ It had to have been at least double the intensity of the original dose that had landed on her revealed skin, as though the bitterness of the flesh wound and the potency of the liquefied mixture had combined to create the most disgusting, agonizing _itch_ she had ever experienced in her entire life.

But then… it changed.

First, a resurgence of pain exploded from the wound, the weakened bandage finally collapsing under the pressure of her scar, revealing a smokey-gray, plated surface surrounding the scratch. Later on she realized that it must have started to rain around that point, but it had been impossible to focus on anything - her vision had gone red and fuzzy a long time before that.

Next came a resurgence of the eating. But… It was almost the opposite. Rather than the acid biting into her flesh, it felt almost as though something had come crawling _out_ of her skin on her legs, arms and _face_ , quickly taking away the pain from the acid, before spreading out over the rest of her flesh, the liquid no longer the issue. With a scream, Astrid had fallen to the ground, only to find little pain there, as the virus had by then covered the majority of her backside.

Yet another strange sound came from her mouth as she felt her muscles expand and contract in ways she didn't think were possible. Another wave of pain washed over her, this time originating from her hands and feet.

 _WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME?_ The thought pushed to the surface through the turmoil of change sweeping over her body. "AM I BEING PUNISHED?" She yelled into the dark, cloudy sky above her, her voice cracking as tears rolled down her cheeks. They answered only with a distant rumble of thunder, but Astrid took it as the worst possible omen.

 _Oh please gods let me go to Valhalla I know I've made some mistakes but I am a warrior I can't die like this I can't lose Hiccup I can't…_

She looked down at her hands again, which were at that point completely covered in the… scales. They were definitely scales. As a matter of fact, they almost seemed familiar…

A crazy idea entered her mind. It was ridiculous and insane, and went against everything she had grown up believing… but it explained the things that were happening to her… Though not _WHY._

She was able to spare a moment to glance over at Toothless, who still seemed to be grappling with the... bola, which was trapping his wings and rear feet. He looked more or less unharmed, but was still struggling to crawl towards her, without much luck.

She looked back at her hands. Yes, she had definitely seen these scales before, touched them, but they were a different color this time…

The change was happening at a much quicker pace by then, and Astrid could feel the energy being sapped out of her body as the last of the scales finished covering her face, more or less bringing some relief to the crawling sensation on her skin. Desperate to know if she was right, hoping even more so that she wasn't, she tried walking towards a small puddle that had been created by the then steady pour of rain descending from the heavens.

Astrid's clothes were all but completely torn off, as several horribly sharp talons began to extend from her hands, which could barely even be considered those anymore. The webbing between her fingers had extended and thickened, until there was barely any separation between them aside from small nubs.

Astrid collapsed to the ground again as her arms and legs thickened and thinned, grew and shrunk, curved into positions they were never meant to be in. Astrid screamed as she tried to stand once again, only to fall onto her new, fully transmogrified legs. The puddle in front of her had grown larger and deeper as the rain came down harder, and it was by then only a few feet away.  
She was briefly aware of lightning flashing overhead, with a resounding _BOOM_ of thunder to match, before her face began to change as well.

She felt her eyes grow to at least twice their normal size, and her vision began to fluctuate, changing between an extremely bright, drained, black and white hue, and her normal, color-filled vision. Her pupils felt as though they were on fire.

Another lightning strike flashed above as Astrid reached the one of now many small pools of water in the clearing. Something was on fire in the forest, and she could faintly hear Toothless's screams becoming more and more desperate somewhere behind her.

Just before she got to the small pool, she shrieked once again as the bones in her face rearranged themselves for what seemed to be an eternity. Her ears elongated, and several flaps of skin with the slightest bit of muscle in them formed between them. The sound of the rain was suddenly amplified tenfold, and Toothless's desperate screaming even more so.

Her nose receded into her face, as her mouth ripped open across her now large, disc-like countenance. With a single whiff of air, Astrid could smell the raindrops glistening on the leaves in the trees, the stagnant fragrance of maple somewhere in the woods, the crisp burning of lightning in the air… and she _hated it_.

There was a final flash of lightning and a godlike crash of thunder in the air above Astrid as she finally reached the puddle. It was brief, but the reflection in the in the small pool illuminated by the lightning was unmistakable.

Staring back at Astrid was the terrified blue-eyed face of a dragon.

Of a Night Fury.

Before she could react, there was an eruption of agony from Astrid's back and hind quarters, and she doubled over in pain again. Before she blacked out, she almost thought she could remember something running towards her…

* * *

Syl was _screwed_.

Sure, galavanting through a _clearing_ in the woods she might have been able to forgive herself for; she had literally just been disowned by her _entire tribe_ and sent into exile on an _enemy island_ \- even she could be a bit distracted by something like that.

But of course, the one idiot she had made it her _personal_ goal to take out, and his stupidly admirable counterpart, just _had_ to fly over that _exact_ clearing at that _very_ moment. That was just her clumsy, rotten, no-good luck.

She was more than lucky to dodge those spikes 'Astrid' had gotten her dragon to launch in front of Syl, though she _did_ have the advantage of preparation on her side.

She had been fortunate enough to see 'Astrid' and that dragon of hers (seriously, how _did_ they train those beasts?) practicing the maneuver earlier that day in the island's old killing ring.

Of course, she'd had more than enough experience with dragons, as well…

The getaway after that was more or less quite easy. She'd known from the start that the boy was rather dependent upon the dragon, but stopping the chase after a measly crash? That was just ridiculous, even with only one proper leg.

The girl, on the other hand… She was living up to her reputation of the annoyance Syl figured she would be. She had already seen her fly over her hiding spot a few times on that stupid Night Fury, but it would be impossible to find Syl. If nothing else, She was a master of camouflage. She prided herself on her ability to hide anywhere, at any time. Granted, this hadn't helped her make any friends, and judging by what Bjarke had said earlier, it wasn't exactly her most admirable trait in the village, either.

Still, it had proven more than useful on several occasions, and could easily be turned to when all other options failed.

Granted, she hadn't exactly been doing it since she was little. Ages ago, she had been just like any other kid. Hell, she even got along with others her age then. She wasn't much for a warrior at first, (then again, none of the girls _or_ guys at that age were into fighting that much. Even then, the worst that could happen was a small brawl over stuffed animals, and the like) but ever since _the_ _incident_ , ever since she'd lost _him…_ she had just grown more and more distant from other people in the tribe.

Her mother had recovered all-too quickly for Syl. She had told her to just get over it, that that sort of thing happened all too often in raids… But it hadn't been a raid.

But her mother was right. If it wasn't then, it would have been a few years later. A nadder might have killed him, perhaps a fishing trip would've gone wrong. Either way, it didn't matter. He was gone.

After a few hours, the girl and the dragon were no longer a problem. They'd given up on the chase for whatever reason - something Syl had been counting on. She only could have waited there for a day or so, at best.

After she was certain the two had given up on the chase, she slowly moved out of her hiding spot. She had been more than lucky in finding a small patch of brush a few miles away from where she had landed, practically impossible to see from the air. It wasn't ideal, but at the time, she had been so scared that she would've taken a haunted shed if it meant a hiding place from her hunters. Alone, she could've taken at least one, if not both of them out. But both of them, on those damned dragons… She was less than prey.

Judging based on the friendliness of the tribe, they wouldn't kill her if she was captured. No, instead they would torture for hours with the worst weapons in the world: questions. Despite the fact that she was great at _every_ other aspect of espionage missions, she had never been properly interrogated before. Sure, she'd been caught back on the island a few times, after some of her personal missions didn't go _exactly_ as planned, but even then she was just dragged back to her mother, to which she eventually broke and told everything to, despite her personally built-up self resolve.

She had thought that this mission was too good to be true from the beginning. Her mother had practically forgotten everything Syl had ever done wrong at the time, convincing her that if she pulled this off, she would finally be accepted in the tribe. Of course, those hadn't been the exact words she had used, but still…

After running a few miles away from her hiding spot, she stopped and took note of her surroundings. It had started to rain again, the shower she had encountered in the cove obviously making its way over the island.

She was still in the forest, but seemed to have gone farther south. A few hundred feet ahead of her, a huge cliff towered into the sky, stretching a half mile in each direction before bending back down to level off with the forest she was already in. The cliff face itself was almost entirely flat, and was made up primarily of weathered, beaten rock that had remained there for hundreds of years. There were a few ledges on the lowest parts of the cliff, but after the first fifty feet, it would've been impossible to climb. Syl had no choice; she would have to go around, which would mean it would be dark before she found somewhere to bunk down for the night, or find some place to make camp where she was.

Of course, what _exactly_ Syl was going to do, she had no idea. She doubted that she would be treated kindly, assuming she _could_ somehow get back to her tribe. Bjarke had made that clear enough. Of course, there were always other places she could go. There _were_ Daggur's Berserkers, who were always taking in new recruits and runaways. But they tended to look for a very specific _type_ of warrior, and the requirements for that _certainly_ did not fit her description. At the best, they might let her do some reconnaissance work in enemy tribes, but she doubted even that would be a possibility. Who knew? They'd probably just end up trying to sell her back to her mother, and that was a situation Syl _definitely_ did not want to deal with...

Then and there, she made a decision. The rain had gotten much worse since she had left her hiding spot, and the clouds looked suspiciously dark enough to turn into a thunderstorm. She wouldn't be travelling very far that night.

Sighing as loud as she dared, Syl began her walk to the cliff.

Upon closer inspection, what had seemed like wet rock and shadows at first actually turned out to be dips and boulders lodged in the cliff. It looked as though a few landslides and storms in the past had made several crevices and hollows within the stone, carving out a natural statue. Turning right, and walking along the side of the face, Syl could see that some of the holes might even have been big enough for her to fit in. When it came to hiding, a fire was a great way to get herself caught or killed, and she didn't know how to make a tent of any kind. Although she hated to think about it, she might have had to settle down in one of the larger crevices for the night.

As she continued walking along the break, she heard the thunder growing closer and closer, and small streams began to run through the natural crevices in the stone. If she didn't want to be completely soaked through, she would have to find somewhere to sleep, _fast._

The next thing that occured went far too quickly for Syl to know what was happening. All Syl knew was that it was the perfect way for Loki to cap off what had to be the worst day of her life.

A crack of lightning above her electrified the air around her, and she felt a heat she had never experienced before, in the normally cold and damp Veiklaðar climate. There was a deep, heavy rumbling up above her, and she raised her eyes to the cliff, only to be pelted by several clumps of dirt and pebbles that had slid off of the cliff.

As she raised her arm up to protect her face, her eyes widened as her line of sight reached the top of the cliff.

Several large boulders had broken free of their ancient resting grounds, and were rolling down the hill at a speed Syl less than preferred. A torrent of mud, gravel, and smaller rocks were cascading down just behind them, with a flood turning the dirt to slippery mud just behind that.

It was a proper, harmonious, beautifully chaotic landslide.

Syl didn't waste much time looking. Darting left across the face, she searched for _any_ kind of shelter she could use to protect herself with. Sparing a precious moment, she glanced back up the cliff. The natural stampede was almost halfway down the crag.

Just in time, Syl found what she was looking for. A large indent had been formed in the side of the ridge, almost twice the height of her, and just as deep. It looked stable enough to not collapse under the pressure when the landslide hit, but she couldn't be sure. It was still thirty feet away.

The rocks were well over halfway down the cliff, and had almost reached the point at which the last moss and other frugal plant life still clung on, unknowing of their fate. Syl didn't get a good look, but she figured it must have been at least the same distance she was from the hollow, if not a bit more.

Breaking into an all-out sprint, Syl reached the small cavern and threw herself in, just as the landslide surged over the depression, leaving only a few small holes in the wall of rock and stone that now covered the entrance to see through. A few minutes later, when Syl was sure that the landslide was over, she uncurled herself from the fetal position, and got up.

Though she could still stand, the space seemed to be much smaller than it had been before, with the sheet of rocks having overflowed into it somewhat.

Feeling her way to where the opening had been, Syl pushed against the barrier with all the might she had, praying that it would give way. She tried for several minutes, at different areas along the wall, until she collapsed back down onto the ground in exhaustion. There may have been pressure points, or instabilities in the wall, but in the dark it was impossible to see, and it made no difference, anyways. She was stuck.

Oh, Loki was definitely laughing at her alright. The one time she got a chance at retribution, she was exiled, and trapped to be starved to death, all over the course of a measly few hours. Did she deserve this? Perhaps, given that she had made it her job to appeal to the... _less accepted_ folk in her tribe, and ruin people's lives for a living. Of course, she'd never killed anyone, or any dragons, for that matter, but she had still done some pretty terrible things.

For the second time that day, in full mental and physical weariness, Syl collapsed to the ground and cried.

She thought about her father. He had more or less been a peaceful ruler (as peaceful as a Viking could be) but he'd had problems nonetheless. He would oftentimes take his stress of being chief out on others, which did include Syl all too many times. Oftentimes he would come home, throw his helm at the first living thing he saw, and yell and scream at anyone who bothered him for the rest of the day. But on his worst tantrums, _he_ was always there, _he_ would step in and tell Syl to hide upstairs in the cupboards. _He_ had always protected her… Until one day, he couldn't.

When _he_ died, her mother was there to console her, but her father… He lost his sanity. He couldn't bear the thought of _him_ being gone. He had gone on a rampage through the village, marching himself up to the hall and locking himself in for almost a week and a half. Then one day, he came out. After that he ignored Syl as though she didn't even exist. She had asked herself, 'Why? Why do I have to suffer for this?' But she had never been able to bring herself to ask him.

Syl's crying had decreased to a slow, steady whimper. By this time, the space she was curled up in was pitch black, no moonlight being able to shine through the stormclouds, never mind the tiny holes in the stone.

Taking a shaky breath, Syl scooted as far back into the cave as she could go.

She missed her father. He was violent, but she had loved him, anyways.

But she missed her brother even more.

* * *

Astrid couldn't remember dreaming about anything. When she tried to recall what happened after she blacked out, she would always get a headache until it hurt too much to even try to remember.

She remembered waking up to something wet. It was the ground, but something about it was definitely off. No, strike that, _everything_ was off. Her arms and legs felt like they must have been broken, but they didn't hurt at all. It felt as though her back was resting on a perfectly sculpted rock, and something was almost certainly wrong with her rear end. She could definitely feel the rain dripping down her skin, (was she naked?) but she didn't feel wet in the slightest. Most notably, however, were four points of pressure on her chest. Something was pinning her down.

Hesitantly, she opened her eyes, only to find two very angry-looking emerald-green ones with slit pupils staring back at her. Instinctively, she tried to move away from the threat, which felt wrong on multiple accounts, but she couldn't. The dragon above her pressed down harder, and suddenly Astrid felt completely exhausted.

Suddenly, she winced as she felt a... _presence_ , in her mind, followed by a single piercing thought, " _WHAT DID YOU DO WITH HER?!"_ It was the most surreal experience she'd ever had in her life, as though someone had _directed_ a thought into her mind. It sounded different from her normal thoughts, as well. It had a sort of tone, like a voice, deep and suspicious, yet somehow relatable. But the tone seemed to encompass an entire personality within itself, like each word explained a new fact about whatever the _thing_ was. How she knew any of that, Astrid had no idea.

Seeing her confused look, Toothless - she could see it was Toothless, now (but why did he seem smaller than normal?) - reared his head back up slightly, but kept his glare settled on her, suspicion in his eyes. Astrid could see that the storm had stopped, but a light shower was still falling from the misty gray sky above her. Then the _thing_ spoke in her mind again.

" _The girl! What did you do, kill her? Eat her? We're not at war with the humans anymore!"_

 _At war with the… Oh, gods. Oh,_ GODS _._ It all came back to her then. The trap, the Lightning, The acid, whatever the _hell_ happened after the acid, Hiccup… Oh, gods, _Hiccup!_ Where was he? Was he still hurt? And the voice, that must have been...

Groaning, she tried to sit up, to be pushed back down easily by Toothless. Failing that, she tried talking, only to hear a growl come out of her throat. She closed her eyes in shame, then tried again, to no better avail. Finally she tried what she had been afraid to, something she didn't understand. She focused her mind on a single thought, balled it up, then… _threw_ it to the Night Fury pinning her down. Despite the fact that it took all of her energy away, it still seemed to come out incredibly weak. " _...Toothless…"_

His eyes grew larger as he processed what she had said, and his feet released some of their pressure. " _Astrid… It can't… You can't… How... No… NO!"_ He stood on his hind legs and roared to the sky, " _YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO HER! YOU_ CAN'T…" Astrid thought she heard him say something else, but just then, the last of her energy gave, and she blacked out again.

When she next came to, Astrid could hear more thunder and rain, and a voice. It wasn't Toothless this time, but it _was_ one that she would recognize almost anywhere. She only heard small bits of sentences, but later on she thought she could piece together the message. "My gods, Toothless! Another… Think about what this means… Can you carry… Need to get her under… Where did this storm…" She blacked out again soon after.

When she next woke up, she was in a cave. There was a fire in front of her somewhere which cast strange-looking shadows on the wall. She moved to get up, before her mind was occupied again, " _No no no, Astrid. I know you're probably freaking out right now but just, uh, get some rest. Hiccup's okay, and he'll be back soon. Everything's okay. Just go back to sleep."_

How could he say that? She had been turned into a… a _dragon,_ for Odin's sake. How was she expected to believe that everything would be fine?

He had been right about one thing - Astrid needed to get back to sleep. She still felt incredibly tired and downright _spent._ And who knew? Hiccup was smart, he could find a fix for the mess she was in. Until then, she _did_ need to rest. She was just... So.. Tired...


	3. The Discovery

**THIS CHAPTER is over four days late. For that, I am terribly sorry - I can't guarantee that the next one will be on time either, but it should be more interesting to write than this one, meaning that it shouldn't take as long.**

 **Aside from that, I'm just going to say - wow. That view count jump between chapters 1 & 2 was HUGE. Thank you all for your continued support, it means more to me than you know.**

 **The style of writing I used changes a little over halfway through this chapter, which I apologize for, but honestly I think it kind of works. Aside from that, I tried to appeal a bit less to the character's emotions and inner thoughts, and more to the actions and events that went on during this segment of the story, which I thought was somewhat necessary. Once again, I hope you all enjoy, and thank you for your continued support!**

 **How To Train Your Dragon is property of DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc.**

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{ _Several hours earlier._ }

Leaning against Stormfly, Hiccup glanced up at the sun and squinted. A shower had hit the mainland before the storm, and it was cloudy, but the sun was still faintly visible through the gray sky. It had been over two hours, and yet neither Toothless nor Astrid had returned.

Had they found the girl? It didn't seem likely, given that Toothless and her would have brought her back by then. Although, as it tended to be with Astrid, he had a feeling that it would be more complicated than that no matter what. Frowning, he debated his decision of having the two of them work as a team.

Toothless and Astrid had more or less become "friends" since the war had ended. Of course, Hiccup doubted that they would ever be on _perfect_ terms, but they had long since gotten over the "Mortal-enemies-sworn-to-kill-each-other" phase. Often times he couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if the war never ended. Would Vikings still be fighting dragons? Would he still be the biggest failure on Berk? He didn't know. But every day, as terrible as it was, he would swear to himself that shooting Toothless out of the sky was the best thing that had ever happened to him.

Sighing, he went back down to his man-made leg. After figuring out _what_ and _where_ the problem was, he was able to (excruciatingly slowly) reduce the pain in his leg, until it became minuscule enough that he thought he could live with it until he could get the attachment off. Of course, he could have taken the leg off entirely, which likely would have taken the pain away almost totally, but he had decided against it, in case Astrid and Toothless came rushing back, and needed to get to Berk in a hurry for some reason. It was unlikely, but he liked to be prepared for any and all possibilities.

Clenching his teeth at the pain, Hiccup pulled desperately at a tiny object stuck in the confines of his leg, before it came flying out, hitting him in the face before it fell to the ground.

Grinning and picking up the slightly bloodied screw, he mentally chest-bumped himself and let loose a " _Yeah!_ " That startled some birds out of a few nearby trees, and caused Stormfly to raise her head and give him a look of concern, before settling back down.

For the past hour, Hiccup had been grappling with a tiny pin that had come out of place and lodged itself in what was left of his foot when he had tumbled out of Toothless's saddle. At first, the pain had seemed unbearable, but as the hours went by, he was able to figure out the source of his torment, and thus slowly but steadily get rid of it.

His grin and excitement dying somewhat, he pushed the pin back into the proper socket in his attachment, promising himself that he would have to rebuild the appendage to avoid that problem from happening again the next time he was in Gobber's workshop.

On the spur of the moment, something nudged him roughly in the back of his head, and he turned to see Stormfly raise her body up, narrow her eyes in the direction of the forest, growl and lift a wing over Hiccup protectively. As abruptly as she had started, her snarl ended, and her expression turned into one of confusion. Seeming to sigh, she dropped her head back down to the ground and retracted her wing, just as Hiccup heard something crash somewhere in the forest, which was a few dozen feet away from him.

Hiccup's head whipped around. There was another crash, then another, before a torrent of leaves and branches snapping could be heard directly in the forest in front of him. Whatever it was, it was getting closer, very, very quickly.

Hesitantly, Hiccup got up and slowly began to move towards the forest. Although he was unarmed and more or less against fighting, Astrid and his father had given him some basic hand-to-hand combat training from time to time, and he felt that he might have been able to hold his own in a fight, assuming whoever he was fighting was much smaller than him, which, on Berk, wasn't very likely. But whatever was coming sounded way too big for _any_ Viking to fight.

Worried, Hiccup began to back away from the forest, slowly receding towards Stormfly, prepared to high-tail it out of there without looking back. He would have to find Astrid later. Whatever this thing was, it didn't sound friendly. But Stormfly didn't seem worried at all - if anything, she seemed rather... annoyed. So why would-

Without warning, something large and black leapt out of the underbrush and tackled Hiccup to the ground. Something encased him, enveloping him in darkness. He felt the enclosure roll over a few times, before finally coming to a stop.

The encasement around him unfolding, Hiccup looked up to see a familiar, ivory-lacking face smiling down at him. Beaming again, Hiccup clambered out of Toothless's wings and stood up, the Night Fury doing likewise. "Hey bud," he told him. Then after seeing no sign of her, asked, "Where's Astrid?"

Just like that, the dragon's smile disappeared, and he turned to Stormfly. He then proceeded to tell her something curt in that strange dragon-language Hiccup so desperately wished he could understand. Without warning, Stormfly's previously laid-back demeanor turned into one of panic, and she flew off over the forest, in the direction Toothless had come from. Hiccup ducked his head just as her claws flew above him, before raising his head back up to stare at the quickly disappearing Nadder. "Hang on, why…"

Hiccup turned his head back around, and saw that Toothless already had his wings out as well, ready to take off as soon as the boy hopped on. "Hang on, Toothless!" He yelled at the dragon. Hiccup limped over to him, his appendage dangling loosely on his leg. "My, uh, leg is broken. We're gonna need to walk until I have time to fix it. Purring, Toothless walked over to Hiccup and sniffed at the attachment with worry, before licking his entire leg, nearly causing Hiccup to fall over. "Woah, Toothless," he smiled down at him. "Come on, let's go find Astrid. She can't be too far from here, if you've left her. "

A few minutes into their trip, Hiccup bent over, tired from walking, as short as the distance was. Although he would go around the village walking on most occasions, he would rarely travel very far on foot, as it was awkward on his mismatched legs and, well, he did have a _dragon_ that could take him almost anywhere.

Toothless looked back at him with alarm for a moment, before rolling his eyes in annoyance and continuing without him. "Sorry bud," Hiccup yelled after him, clutching his hand over a stomach cramp. Speeding up a bit to catch up with him, Hiccup began to hoist himself onto Toothless's saddle. "Hope you don't mind if I-"

Without warning, Toothless suddenly threw his body to the left, causing Hiccup to be jolted off and onto the ground without warning, resulting in a less-than-manly scream from Hiccup, and a rough landing on his side that would doubtless leave a bruise.

Awkwardly pulling himself back up, he looked back at the dragon. "What in Thor's name was that for?"

The Night Fury's eyes seemed cloudy and distant as he stared blindly into the forest, his thoughts obviously elsewhere, before he snapped out of it and turned back to look at Hiccup with concern on his face. Then, with no prior forewarning and one slimy lick, he covered the entirety of Hiccup's body in dragon-saliva, coating him in an warm, apologetic substance that Hiccup knew would _never_ wash out.

Struggling to open his eyes through the stickiness of the spit, he frowned, before laughing a bit and shaking his head. "Dragons," he scoffed, turning it into a sort of curse.

After waiting a moment to recover from his cramp and making sure he wasn't bleeding, Hiccup continued, walking on foot - he wasn't planning on testing Toothless again. Who knew? He was probably just tired from flying for the past few hours with Astrid.

He and Toothless walked for a few minutes more before he saw something metallic in the forest in front of him. Curious, he ran up to it. Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be some sort of lever system connecting a shield on the ground to something hidden from view in the tree. A bright, sinister green liquid of some kind seemed to be dripping down from a branch up above, pooling into a small area in front of the shield. Some of it had seemingly burned through a small twig on the ground, and had formed its own sort of bowl in the dirt as well.

Taking a closer look at the device, Hiccup saw that the line going up the tree was nothing more than an old frayed fishing rope, and the small wheels leading the rope into the tree were rusted, and pinned to the bark with nails nearing the point of decay. He could see a larger, out-of-place rock on the ground near the tree, that had probably been used as a makeshift hammer. It was rudimentary, and done with incredibly cheap materials, but nonetheless would serve as an effective trap.

It had obviously been tripped, and recently, as the acid would likely have stopped by then otherwise. And Toothless had been leading him over there…

His eyes widening, Hiccup rose to his feet, his heart falling to the bottom of his stomach. "Dear Gods…" he whipped his head back around to Toothless. "WHERE IS-" Toothless almost looked as though he was prepared to answer, before one of his ears shot up in the air, and he went sprinting off into a large, grassy clearing near the trap.

Rolling his eyes, Hiccup ran after the dragon.

"Toothless! Where are you going? What happened to…" As he climbed the small, rounded hill in the clearing created by frost over the years, Hiccup's eyes widened, and he stopped and rubbed them to assure he wasn't dreaming.

"... Astrid..."

A large, smokey gray, scaly heap was lying on its side next to a puddle in the glade. It looked roughly the same size as Toothless, with wings to match. Closer up, it seemed as though it was a bit smaller than its black counterpart, but nevertheless was easily definable by the rounded face and signature tail-fins. Its chest steadily rose and fell, its breathing labored, but stabilizing with each exhalation. There were no visible scars on it, but it seemed to be in pain nonetheless. At first sight, anyone on Berk could recognize the breed that claimed it - a Night Fury.

Dropping to his knees, his eyes pinned in disbelief on the creature in front of him, Hiccup muttered something under his breath along the lines of "Can't be possible..." Toothless on the other hand, walked up to the beast and began licking its nose. After a moment, he stopped and raised his head up with a thoughtful expression on his face, considering his actions, but then went back to licking a few seconds later.

Blinking, Hiccup stood back up and ran up to the creature. As he moved toward it, he realized that Stormfly was there as well, worriedly pecking at something on the ground, like a thin chicken searching for corn in the winter. Adjusting his path, he walked over to the dragon and kneeled down in the grass to see what she was looking at.

Whatever it had been, it would serve no purpose anymore. A torn apart pile of blue-green cloth was accompanied by a pair of burnt shoulder pads and a shredded, metal-laced skirt resting nearby. A ripped leather circlet, a pair of boots and a crumbled, arm-length bandage rested in the tall grass a few feet away.

A feeling of dread crept over Hiccup, and he slowly got up and turned around to look at Toothless. "Did it… Eat Astrid?" Looking up from the motionless body in front of the creature and pulling in his tongue, Toothless shook his head back and forth.

Frowning, Hiccup "Then, is Astrid… Alive?" Toothless seemed to consider the question for a moment, and looked back at the grey dragon. Then he nodded his head.

Letting his shoulders relax and exhaling a sigh of relief, Hiccup closed his eyes. Opening them after a moment, he asked,"So… Do you know where she is?" This time, Toothless rolled his eyes, before squeezing his eyelids shut and gripping at his face with his paws, as though trying to remember something desperately. Finally, he shook his head, and nodded at the dragon resting below him.

Frowning in despair, Hiccup brought his hand up to his face and closed his eyes again. "Right, so let me get this straight. When you and Astrid went out looking for the, uh, _spy_ , Something went wrong and… you ended up here. Something or someone, potentially Astrid, sprung the trap. Astrid isn't dead, and this dragon has something to do with the fact that she's not here, but you can't tell me why. Is that right?" Toothless nodded his head up and down solemnly, but approvingly. Hiccup opened his eyes again, letting air seep out of his nostrils slowly. "Right…"

Hiccup flinched and spun on his heels as a resounding boom of thunder broke the air. A torrent of rain began to fall, and there was a flash of lightning off in the distance.

Frowning, Hiccup turned back around, addressing the two dragons. After Stormfly had deemed herself satisfied with the pile of shredded apparel, she had walked back over to sit next to Toothless, and began to clean herself like a house cat. "Do you think you and Stormfly can carry it, Toothless? It doesn't look like it'll be getting up any time soon. I know it's almost as big as you, but we can't just leave it here." At the moment, the dragon was the only lead Hiccup had on wherever Astrid was, and Toothless seemed to think it was important, for some reason.

Toothless rolled his eyes and slumped slightly, whereas Stormfly didn't seem to acknowledge anything he had said, too interested in herself. Hiccup looked pleadingly at his best friend, and begged, "Please, Toothless. Just this one time, it looks sick and you seem to think we need it. You wouldn't want to leave a sick one of your own out here, would you? We can find a place to take it for the night, then maybe fly back to the village to get some help from Dad and the others."

Letting out a sigh and raising up his shoulders slightly, Toothless rolled his eyes and began to hoist the dragon up onto his shoulders, before Hiccup ran up and stopped him. "Hang on, Toothless! Let me get your saddle off first." After unclipping the straps and reworking the complicated knots that held the saddle onto the dragon, he moved his arm down to the tail-fin adjuster, before thinking of something that could have been useful later on.

"Toothless,"-the dragon looked down at him- "Do you know if this is a boy or girl? You know, like male or female?" The dragon nodded his head. With a bit more energy, Hiccup continued, "Alright, so… Nod once for male, twice for female."

Toothless, almost over-enthusiastically, nodded twice.

"Wow…" Hiccup replied, finally releasing some of the thoughts that had been cooped up in his mind since he had first seen the beast. "My gods, Toothless - another Night Fury, and female! This is what we've been searching for for years! Think about what this means! We can learn so much more about your kind! Plus, and, I mean I'm not pressuring you or anything… But... You and her could bring back the entire race..."

The boy blushed, but grinned at the dragon through it, before continuing to go on about the discovery. The Night Fury, however, seemed oddly taken aback by this statement, and a horrified look appeared on his face, as though Hiccup had managed to both surprise and offend him at the same time.

His voice trailing off, Hiccup looked up at the dragon, his grin fading to a smirk, and replied, "What? Never had a girlfriend before? Well, I know how that feels, bud. But Astrid and I, well, I think she's kind of into me. You, on the other hand..." At this, the Night Fury's mood changed, and he chuckled his odd, gurgling laugh. Hiccup looked back up at him inquisitively, causing the dragon to stop abruptly and take a sudden interest in his paws. Shaking his head, Hiccup rolled his eyes and went back to removing the tail-fin mechanism.

A few minutes later, Hiccup had completely separated the saddle and tailfin switch from Toothless's back, leaving the fin itself folded up neatly on the end of his tail.

The storm was getting worse, and so Hiccup hugged his arms around his chest, turning to face the Night Fury.

"Alright, bud," he said, assuring himself before he continued. "There's a cove that has some caves in it a few miles from here," -Hiccup pointed south- "just down by the ocean. I saw it when we were on patrol earlier. Can you two carry her that far?" Toothless adapted a look of determination and lowered his head, and Stormfly looked up, finally taking notice of him, but Hiccup couldn't help but have doubts. Though he had at least several times the strength of a Viking, Toothless was made to be small, quick and stealthy - not powerful or meant for hauling cargo, like Gronckles or Nightmares. Stormfly was just as large, but was much taller, making it so the dragon would have to be draped unevenly between the two.

But Toothless had already started heaving the grey dragon over his head, using his hind legs to throw the body over his back like an over-sized towel. He grunted as he adjusted her position on him, and his stance seemed more bowed in the center than was natural - even by his standards, but he still gave a snort of confidence at the end, doing his best to stand up tall. Stormfly did her best to copy his actions,

Shaking his head again, Hiccup bent down and tightened his attached leg as much as he could without it inflicting pain, and stood back up, breathing out a lungful of air.

"Okay, then. We need to get her under cover." There was another boom of thunder, with the lightning flashing just a few seconds later, signaling that the tempest was about to become much worse. "Where did this storm come from, anyways? It shouldn't have passed this far inland for at least a few hours."

The trip through the forest wasn't an experience Hiccup wanted to revisit. It had taken them a few different tries to find a good way for the two dragons to drape the Night Fury across the two, and each time Hiccup would find himself having to run up and push one of her legs back onto Stormfly, or curl up her tail somewhat when it unravelled itself and dragged on the ground, adding friction to the already straining weight of the creature. Even then, they had to make four stops throughout the trip, only starting up again when the rain got worse, or when a flash of lightning jumped the Nadder back up to her feet.

When they finally arrived at the cove almost an hour after he had expected, Hiccup was positive that it had to have been the worst thunderstorm Berk had experienced in decades, likely sent as punishment to some evil soul by Thor himself. Hiccup could only wonder _who_ that soul was.

Bringing his arm up to block the wind, Hiccup did his best to survey the cove through the whirlwind. It was small, likely less than a quarter of a mile in width but had a large beach going far inland. The forest rose towards the back, creating a 50-foot tall cliff face, before it cascaded back down to even out with the beach as it circled to the ocean. The waves in the sea were wild and erratic, crashing against stones in the bay that were impossible to see through the storm. On a quieter day, the scenery would likely be picturesque, but the windstorm made the cove appear to be the very gateway of Helheim itself.

A sudden, fierce wind made Hiccup fall backwards, Toothless catching him at the last moment, but nearly dropping the grey Night Fury's head in turn. Rushing around him, Hiccup pushed all of his weight against the thing, wishing that he had taken more training classes with Astrid, like his father had suggested. After a moment, with a lot of effort, Hiccup finally pushed its head back up onto Toothless's back, the black Night Fury giving a grunt of discomfort after having retaken the weight.

Frowning, Hiccup turned back to the cove. Facing the ocean, they had been fortunate enough to come out on the east side of it, as the slope on that side was much more gradual and easy to traverse. The face of the cliff in the cove had some caves and crevices in it, some of which would likely fit at least two of the dragons in. However, the wind was far too strong to even consider resting in any of them, never mind building a fire or find a suitably place for their _sick dragon_ there.

Squinting through the storm, Hiccup thought he could make out something he had been hoping he had seen earlier. He could only pray that he was right. Briskly gesturing at the two reptiles to follow him, he began a slow trudge down the slope, the wind pushing him back with every step he took. He thought he could hear a tree falling somewhere in the woods, but it was impossible to tell through the wind.

Gasping for breath, Hiccup jumped off of the short ledge onto the beach, the two dragons stepping down behind him in as much synchronization as they could possibly manage. He turned his head back to the two, trying to muster a smile, and spoke through small breaks in the wind.

"Alright, bud… We've almost… Made-"

All of a sudden, a stray branch flew at Hiccup's face, hitting him square in the jaw, before flying off somewhere behind him, luckily missing the dragons. He stumbled back, grabbing his jaw instinctively. Toothless nearly lurched ahead in concern as well, but Hiccup was able to stop him, reassuring him that he would be fine. An iron-like taste filled his mouth, and he could feel a wet liquid dripping down the left side of his face, though he was unsure whether it was tears or blood. Based on how he felt, he would survive, but likely also have a noticeable scar by the next morning, and a sore in his jawbone. He had suffered enough punches from Snotlout when he was younger to know that much.

Shaking himself out of his frozen stance, he proceeded his walk to the cave ahead of him, praying it was as he thought he'd seen from the cliff.

Luckily, it was. Several huge boulders shielded a small cave against the wind from the ocean, a blessing in cases like this. The cave itself didn't look as though it went in more than a dozen or so feet, and was just a bit higher, though he could have been wrong - the shadows played with his eyes, making some things seem smaller or larger than they really were.

It didn't matter - it would have to suffice. Hugging his arms around his chest, he instructed the dragons to lay her down as far into the cave as they possibly could. With some relief, both dragons made their way into the the cave, turning to look at each other before setting the Night Fury on the stone as gently as they could manage. Toothless, after having checked that Hiccup was alright, warranting another one-lick bathing, went to check on the grey Night Fury, circling around her a few times to assure it hadn't gotten any worse. From what Hiccup could see, her breathing had stabilized at a normal rate, and she didn't seem to be convulsing or spitting fire haphazardly, which was always a good sign.

Stormfly, on the other hand, collapsed right where she stood, falling asleep without any warning whatsoever.

As Hiccup had expected, the wind, whilst still present, was significantly less intense than it had been before, possibly growing calm enough to start a fire.

With newfound energy, Hiccup gathered a few branches that had fallen in the lack of wind near the boulders together, and brought them back to the cave, building a small teepee with them, as his father had taught him to do years before.

"Toothless, would you mind, bud?" The dragon looked up from his sleeping grey counterpart, before focusing on the small pile of wood in front of him. He opened his mouth, and reared back his head slightly, and then… Nothing.

With a frown, Hiccup crawled over to the dragon, and rested his hand on his head. As he had feared, Toothless's head was soaked from the storm, making it so that they would have to wait until he dried off in order to start a fire, or start their own by hand.

After a few unsuccessful attempts to create a fire by rubbing sticks together - he had no flint OR iron - he decided to simply curl up in the natural curve of Toothless's body, his body heat the only thing that would dry him off. It was almost an hour later that Hiccup was finally beginning to fall asleep, when out of nowhere, a plasma blast set the small group of by then dry twigs on fire.

Getting up, Hiccup rubbed his eyes to clear his vision. In his enthusiasm, Toothless had shot just a bit too powerful of a blast, sending most of the twigs and branches flying out of the teepee, collapsing it and only setting a few branches on fire.

Hiccup sighed and turned back to the oversized reptile, who had a sheepish grin on his face.

"Alright, bud. This fire won't last very long if we don't have any more fuel - thanks for that - so I'm going to get some more outside. It looks like the wind's died down a bit, anyways. I'll be back in a moment." He waved a hand at the dragon before moving towards the front of the cave. Bracing himself, he stepped out of the cave, bracing himself for the wind, surprised to find that it had died down even more than he had thought. The rain was still pouring heavily, and the starless sky was pitch black, making it impossible to see more than a few feet in front of him. Nonetheless, he continued out to pick up whatever sticks he could, evaluating his situation while he did.

The wind and storm had made it impossible for them to even think about flying back to the village that night, and it would force them to leave the grey Night Fury behind as well. As excited as he was about finding a new Night Fury, finding Astrid was his top priority, though luckily the Night Fury seemed to be connected to her, somehow. They had left behind the pile of torn clothes in the forest, but Hiccup wanted to go back and investigate the trap later on, anyways.

After gathering up what he believed was a sufficient amount of sticks and twigs, Hiccup dragged himself back to the cave, to find the grey dragon with its head up, staring sleepily at Toothless. Hiccup's eyes widened, and the sticks fell out of his hands.

"My gods, Toothless, she's awake!"

But before he could get to the beast in time, its head had already descended back to the floor, and it was asleep once again.

Disheartened, Hiccup bent down to pick up the sticks. Toothless hadn't even seemed to notice he had come back, and was still staring worriedly at the grey reptile.

Building another teepee as the remaining embers of the other broken one finally burnt out completely, Hiccup couldn't help but stare at the creature as well, two questions resonating in his mind: where the hell did this dragon come from, and what did it have to do with Astrid?

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 **Ooh, an ending note, this is new!**

 **For those of you thinking Hiccup is pretty stupid for not figuring out what happened, remember that this sort of thing _never_ happens in Berk, as "magic" is more or less limited to that which the dragons and people like Gothi possess, which isn't seen very often, unless you count their ability to breathe fire (Not Gothi... Or can she?). Aside from that, most other HTTYD fanfics I've seen where someone turns into something else make it so that everyone just figures it out or knows immediately, and the rest of the story is just the protagonist adapting to living as a dragon/human on Berk until some stereotypical bad guy comes along and they have to save the day. This, for me, is really kind of awkward and shuts down a lot of interesting and entertaining plot points you could expand upon (like the ones in this chapter) that involve very few people being 'in-the-know'. Don't worry, though - I'm sure Hiccup will figure it out eventually...  
**


	4. The Awakening

**Hey again, everyone!**

 **To start off, this chapter was a lot longer than I originally intended it to be, and yet I still didn't get in quite everything I wanted to. I**

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Astrid didn't want to wake up, though it seemed to be unavoidable.

She'd been having a strange dream in which she had turned into a dragon - a dragon, of all things! She could remember something about Hiccup and Toothless, an acidic trap that had felt surprisingly realistic, a cave and a howling storm and a fire and then a blissful, dreamless sleep, but outside of that, she could recall few specific details.

Nonetheless, she was glad that the nightmare was over. She didn't oftentimes have nightmares, but there were a few occasions in which she dreamt of things that sent her bolting upright in bed; Her falling off of Stormfly hundreds of feet above Berk, Hiccup leaving Berk forever, her parents being killed in dragon raids, even when they had long since ended. Now she had yet another to add to the list. Luckily, she knew she was at home, safe in her bed... Her oddly hard, cold, blanket-less bed… Something wasn't right.

Groaning, she tried to sit up, only to find that her hips and legs could no longer bring her up vertically at all. Her entire body ached like it did after she spent hours training in the wilderness, or got saddle sores after riding on Stormfly all day. Oddly, however, the pain seemed to be going away miraculously quickly, her body feeling easier to move with every second as she slowly woke up. Yet at the same time, everything felt so… Unnatural.

Opening her eyes, she realized that she was in the cave she could vaguely remember from the night before. Hiccup was asleep on the floor, looking quite a bit less comfortable than she felt, and oddly small, or at least smaller than she was used to seeing him. Stormfly was also asleep near the entrance to the small cave, and she could see what looked like a rocky beach outside. Toothless…

" _Astrid! You're awake! Are you okay? Do you remember what happened? Do you remember who you are? Wait, that's a stupid question - Or maybe it isn't. Are you alright?"_ The thoughts pierced into her mind without warning, creating the same unsettling feeling of unconcealable exposure that she had experienced the day before.

 _Do I remember what…_ The thought slowly disappeared from her mind, and with a feeling quickly growing to the worst of despair and regret making her heart fall down to her stomach, she looked down at herself.

Rather than the night-dressings or at least day-to-day clothes she hoped to see, her eyes met what she had least hoped to see.

A grey, scaly surface covered her entire body, which was at least three times the size of what she was used to. Her legs were stumps almost half the size of her old pair, and much stockier, with claws replacing her toes and nails. Her arms matched them in length and shape, creating a perfect set of four. Worst of all, she could see a grey tail wrapping around below the bottom of her feet, with two tailfins opened up fully on the end. Though she couldn't see them lying on her side, she felt two unmistakable appendages protruding from her upper back. She could have looked closer, but she already knew well enough what she would find.

Seeing her horrified inspection, Toothless tried to reassure her. " _Astrid, I know you might be a bit… unsettled, by everything that's happened, but don't freak-"_

Hearing Toothless in her head again was what did it. Bolting upright, she tried to stand up on her hind legs, only to crumple down onto her front two with a screech, the stance feeling horribly more _natural_ than she wished it was.

She saw Hiccup stir in his sleep, but luckily she didn't seem to have woken him just yet. Horrified, she adopted an incredibly illogical thought that nonetheless grew stronger in her mind with each moment that passed: _I'm a freak. A FREAK. Hiccup can't see me like this. He CAN'T._

Panicking, she bolted out the front of the cave. She was met with a crisper-than-normal world - everything she could see was amplified in color, and she could hear birds that she somehow knew were in a large tree several hundred feet to her left, could smell the scent of bitter pine and the morning dew following the storm of the night before… But she payed no mind to it.

About fifty feet outside of the cove, she came to the horrible realization that she was running on all fours, and ended up tripping over her own feet, sending her face-first into the ground. Then it got even better.

" _... Astrid? Are you okay?"_ Toothless was in her mind again, having caught up with her incredibly easily in comparison to what she knew must have been her unbearably inefficient running. Shakily lifting herself up on all fours, she turned to look at the Night Fury, trying to make an evil look that likely came out more comedic than she wanted it to be. She didn't care.

" _Do I_ LOOK _okay to you?! I'm a_ DRAGON _for the gods' sakes! I'm a_ freak _! Gods, what am I supposed to DO? Run off into the woods forever? I can't go back to the village - what would I do then? Get a rider of my own? Oh, wouldn't Snotlout and the twins love that. They'd say it was payback for calling them stupid for all of these years, and who knows? Maybe I deserve this. No, on second thought, I don't. Why couldn't I just die and go to Valhalla? Everything would be better off for everyone that way. I can't be a dragon for the rest of my life. This can't be happening. What have I become, a… a pet?! My Gods, what would my parents think? What would_ Hiccup _think? He'd be fine with it, probably. I bet he'd think I'd be easier to deal with as a dragon. I mean, what next, do I lose my memories? Go feral? HUH?!"_

Toothless looked up at her with horror on his face, and replied in a timid, quiet voice, " _Astrid… You need calm down. Could you, maybe, um…"_

Though she hadn't realized it, Astrid had tackled Toothless in the middle of her rant. All four of her talons were sunk into the sand around him, which was the only thing keeping her from strangling Toothless. Out of the corners of her eyes, she could see the edge of what must have been her wings unfurled to their fullest.

Terrified of her own strength, she slowly stepped off of Toothless, feeling her talons slide back into her feet seamlessly.

" _Thanks, Astrid,"_ Toothless responded, his shoulders relaxing a bit as he started flipping himself over. " _I was really getting worried there for a-"_

" _What have I become?!"_ Her mouth fell open. She stared at her feet for a moment, frozen in place, before tearing off down the beach again, her wings dragging in the sand some and causing her to trip several times, but not fall as badly as before. She had no idea where she was, or where she was going, but she didn't care. Hell, she didn't even know _what_ she was.

Blinking through her tears, she saw a small rise ahead of her, that steadily grew higher towards the back of the cove, making the edge of the forest higher than the beach as it went on, creating a cliff edge and a wall in the back of the cove. Though it evened out nearer to the ocean, the spot she was headed towards was raised a few feet above the ground - if she wanted to go any further, she would have to jump.

Closing her eyes and speeding up her pace, she lept up as soon as she thought she was near it. She felt her feet hit hard ground, and her hind legs… didn't quite make it. She felt her back feet hit the side of the ridge only a foot or so above the bottom, and turned around to see the tail, _her_ tail falling to the ground. She could hear Toothless's worried thoughts in her mind, fainter than they had been before, but growing stronger by the second. He was still somewhere behind her on the beach, she knew, but he was gaining on her.

Clenching her eyes shut once again, she extended her talons out once again, digging into the dirt and pulling herself up, before jumping back up to her feet, taking off into the forest.

Her wings clipped on some underbrush, and smaller trees in the forest, most of the pain coming from the fact that she was being forced to acknowledge their existence. Luckily, as she sped up, they seemed to catch some air underneath themselves, making her speed up slightly, lifting her front feet lift up slightly, and making her feel almost as though she could fly… She _hated_ it.

Toothless's voice was getting rapidly quieter in her mind, which a small part of her mind told her didn't make any sense - she had seen him make jumps like that all the time, so what was wrong with him?

Turning her head around mid-run, she found out. He had made the jump, but his tail-fin was caught on some underbrush, and he was trying to get it out without ripping it. Closing her eyes for a moment, she turned her head back around. She was alone, she had gotten away, and she would be away from all of them - the village, the twins, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Toothless, Stormfly, Hiccup. Nobody would ever see her as a freak, no one would have ever seen what she had become… If she hadn't run into a tree and knocked herself out.

Groaning, she woke up a few minutes later, wondering how many times she had passed out that week - just thinking about it gave her a headache.

Opening her eyes, she was glad _not_ to see Toothless hovering above her nor hear him in her head as she had earlier, though somehow she knew that he was nearby. Her vision was still slightly blurry from the crash, and so she waited for it to clear before trying to lift herself up, until she remembered, _again,_ her new form.

Collapsing back onto the ground, she closed her eyes and tried to cry, only to find that no tears would come. She considered trying again for a moment, before dropping the idea. After all, that was what she had done her whole life - just try harder. If there was ever a solution to a problem that only needed skill, she would just practice and practice until she could solve it. If she needed new ideas, she would go to Hiccup. Fishlegs had some knowledge, but he always seemed to lack motivation, or get nervous around bending the rules in Berk, but Hiccup… He had always been there - _always._ And when she had to be there for him...

A memory popped into her mind - it had been years before, and she was surprised she was even able to remember it in the detail that she did, but nonetheless, it was there, suddenly crawling out of the darkest corners of her mind.

It was about a year before Hiccup had shot down Toothless, and far before she had started dragon training. He still made the occasional messes and mistakes, but not many more than any other teen his age, and so everyone really just recognized him as the Viking boy who couldn't seem to grow - nothing more, nothing less. Yet still, everyone knew that Hiccup was… Different, by then. He couldn't seem to grow muscles - even working as an apprentice in the forge - and could barely even _lift_ a sword or axe. But it wasn't just that - Hiccup didn't even seem  interested in fighting - she had noticed as much about him. When the other boys his age like Tuffnut, Snotlout, and even Fishlegs would get into casual brawls, Hiccup would just disappear, silently slinking back into the workshop. Snotlout would beat him up every now and then, especially when Hiccup tried to correct him on something, but on the occasional challenge, Hiccup would just back off, create an excuse, or give his challenger a "raincheck", whatever that meant. Hiccup just wasn't very… Viking-ish. That was, until he learned about the Night Fury.

It was a tradition in Berk to teach the younger generations about dragons long before they started fighting them. Of course, not all of those who learned would end up training in the ring - most of them would become the farmers, bakers and blacksmiths of the village, but at the time, the raids happened often enough that _everyone_ needed to know how to fight, regardless of their day jobs.

'The Dragon Talk,' as it was called, had become a tradition in Berk, and was seen as a rite of passage for children in the village who received it. The younger someone was when they got the talk, the higher the respect that was given to them by their peers. Getting the talk at a young age meant that their parents were proud of what they had achieved in their lives thus far, and thought that they were mature enough to learn more about the dragons than what they had gathered from their friends and watching the raids from inside the great hall and their houses. The talk, she had heard, was still present in the village even after the war, but of course had been modified greatly to make the dragons out to be friendlier, and she knew it no longer held as much importance as it had when she had gotten it.

Ever since the Flightmare had frozen her uncle when she was young, Astrid had been determined to become a warrior. It wasn't purely for revenge - she only wanted to ensure that something like that never happened to anyone in Berk again, _especially_ her family. At least, that's what she told herself. Her parents had seen that, and so she had gotten the talk when she was only seven years old. She became popular in her circle incredibly quickly, but she didn't notice it until she was much older. It just didn't matter to her.

Hiccup, on the other hand, didn't get the talk until he was twelve, making him the last of his age group to receive it. The reasoning for it was more than justified, of course. He didn't spend time around the other kids, using most of his hours experimenting in Gobber's workshop. He left a trail of destruction wherever he went, made sarcastic comments that were borderline offensive to the other Vikings, and overall just _wasn't like anyone else._ The Chief, she knew, had held off on it long enough, and finally had to give him the talk.

By that age, the talk meant less to most of the teens in the village, their "maturity" shining through when they began to take more interest in fighting, hunting, and slaying their first dragons. It was likely that Hiccup had already learned almost everything about the dragons from the almost nightly raids, books, and people in the village, but nonetheless, the talk likely cleared up a lot of confusion and questions he'd had in his earlier childhood.

The talk itself was simple enough - it mainly consisted of all of the information in the Book of Dragons, including the rough estimates of how fast and how strong certain dragons were, how hot their breath could get and certain shot limits. The talk was passed down through families and bloodlines, and so each one was different. It wasn't all too uncommon for the parents to tell a story of the first dragon they had taken down, or a legendary, victorious battle with one that was supposedly accomplished by one of their ancestors. She knew that Stoick had dozens he could tell, many of them having happened within Hiccup's lifetime.

No one in the Village was quite sure _what_ caused Hiccup's obsession with it - Stoick claimed that he had barely mentioned it during the talk - but after that day, Hiccup devoted all of his time and energy to taking down the Night Fury that had become the main problem during the raids, Toothless.

About a week after the talk, and many sleepless nights in the workshop, Hiccup carted out his first official invention - a miniature catapult designed to launch flaming rocks with an accuracy nobody had ever thought was possible. It was his first of many failures to come.

Though they encouraged him and told him he was making good progress to his face, most of those who found out about it were slightly worried, due to his Hiccup's less than reliable reputation. Though the concern quickly faded away as the Vikings took interest in other things in the village. After all, how much damage could one boy do?

Far more than anyone expected. During the next raid, Astrid heard that whilst Hiccup was searching for the Night Fury, the contraption misfired horribly, almost killing him and setting two houses and six sheep on fire. She also heard that he had apologized for his mistake and promised that he could fix it to work perfectly the next time, but she didn't ever see the catapult again. It was likely thrown into the ocean, or burned up during the misfire - it came to happen all too often with his inventions.

With each week and each raid, Hiccup's mechanisms grew closer and closer to success, but created worse and worse disasters with each attempt. One day, Stoick had had enough.

He approached her himself one day, taking time out of his daily routines to talk to her - something she knew had to deem some importance. He had found her out in the forest behind the village, throwing axes at targets she had made herself, many of them rough drawings of dragon's heads or specific parts of their bodies. He would have startled her if she hadn't heard him tromping through the woods a few minutes before he arrived.

"Listen," he had told her. "Hiccup, as you know, has been causing a bit of… _Unrest_ , in the tribe. We're all glad to have him here, and I myself am… proud of what he's accomplished, but I just think that he'd be better of trying his hand at some, ehm, _simpler_ things. You know - swords, axes, and shields and the like."

Astrid nodded understandingly, before asking, "So, uh, why are you telling me this, Chief?"

Stoick sighed, once again choosing his words carefully. "Well, you see, I've tried talking to him, to tell him that that dragon doesn't matter that much, that he'll get another chance to prove himself later on in life, but he just _doesn't listen._ I thought that since you're, ahem, closer to him, you might be able to, you know… Get through to him."

She nodded again, realizing his intent. At the time, she was old enough to know and understand that most of the boys in the village had crushes on her, including Hiccup. Normally, Stoick would never lower himself to such a degree as to ask her to use it to manipulate anyone, especially his son, and she knew he wouldn't force her to. But she also knew that the situation must have reached a new height if he really was turning to her for help - it was a last resort.

Curtly, she replied, "I'll… I'll do what I can, Chief."

He had nodded back at her, his face relaxing slightly, and walked back to the village, another problem solved.

Later that night, after steeling herself up, she walked to the workshop, a few town folk staring at her as she stepped inside. She refused to return their gaze.

Dominating the room was a large, crossbow-like mechanism secured to a wooden base with wheels. Gobber was kind enough to let him use the shop alone, but during the day he expected him to be doing work building weapons that the village needed for the raids. Later on, she remembered Hiccup talking to her about a system he had invented and proposed to Gobber that could make and repair tools and weapons at twice the rate they were already working at, but the blacksmith had refused, saying that he preferred the old way, or nothing at all.

A soot-covered Hiccup had been tending to a fire in the back of the shop, pumping a bellow whilst simultaneously holding a thin, delicate metal rod over the fire, doubtless another piece of the crossbow-like mechanism in the center.

"Uh, hey Hiccup," she greeted him slowly, but still startled him nonetheless. He dropped the metal into the fire and fell on top of the billows, creating a large _FWOOSH_ as the sudden wind made the flames whip up into the chimney.

He muttered something about uselessness under his breath before addressing Astrid, blushing.

"Hey, Astrid. You, uh, scared me a little bit there. I just wasn't expecting to see anyone…" His voice trailed off, and he looked away. She had rolled her eyes and offered him a hand up, which he took after a moment.

"So… What are you working on?" She'd jabbed her thumb behind her in the direction of the crossbow.

"Oh, that?" He replied, bringing his charcoal-covered hand up to scratch the back of his head. "That's a bola launcher. It's supposed to help me launch bolas, because, well…"

He spread out his arms, looking down at himself with disdain, before suddenly grinning back up at her.

"I'm going to use it at the next raid. I figured that my last few attempts all had the wrong idea. See, then I was just eyeballing where the Night Fury was flying. This, on the other hand, has a full aiming system. A bit of recoil, maybe, but other than that it's fully adjustable to whatever position I want it to be in. Other than that, I've been tracking the Night Fury - I think it follows a pattern of some kind when it's taking down towers. Of course, I've tried to talk to Fishlegs about it, but I don't see him very often. At least not since he got to join firefighting with you and the others. Of course, once I take that beast down maybe I can-"

She'd cut him off suddenly with a wave of her hand - she had heard enough.

She didn't know Hiccup as well then, but she knew enough to understand why Stoick needed her to step in. Hiccup was far too determined to listen to anyone, and she knew for a fact that he got uncomfortable around his Dad, and probably did his best to block him out during the conversations they had. It was her turn, and if she couldn't do it, nobody could.

"Hiccup, listen," she began, "I know you have a lot of great ideas, and I and everyone else in Berk thinks that it's great that you're trying these things. But… You need to know when to stop. I know that you feel like you need to prove yourself, or something, but there will be plenty of opportunities for you to do that later on in your life. I know you know this, but your inventions have put a lot of people out of work, out of their _homes._ I just… _We_ think you would be better off if you stopped going after the Night Fury."

She looked up at him, to find him gaping at something in his hand. Looking down, she realized she was holding it rather firmly, and she promptly pulled it away. He cast his eyes down and turned away from her. She would never forget his face - he had every right to be angry or even disappointed, but instead he just had a determination in his eyes that she knew she could never achieve.

"Astrid… I know why you're here. I'm guessing my dad sent you, but I'm going to hope that he didn't, that maybe…" He looked back up at her. "I don't know, Astrid. I don't know why I'm so… _Different_ , from everyone, alright? You might not understand, I mean, of course you wouldn't - you're like Berk's role model warrior-in-training, but I… I'm not. I'm not my father. I don't think I'm my mother, from what I've heard. I don't even know if I'm a Viking… But this dragon, this dragon is _everything_ to me. If I could just shoot it down… It would change my life, forever. I'm sorry if you don't understand, but that's just me, I guess. Thanks for coming by Astrid, but… You can tell my father I'm not going to quit on these inventions. I'm sorry."

He had turned back to the fire, leaving Astrid in shock. She had expected him to stumble, to agree with everything she said like he and all of the other boys she ever talked to did. But it hadn't played out that way - it hadn't gone according to plan. Instead of the shy, clumsy boy she thought she knew, she had been met with a strong, determined young man, one who had as much confidence as any warrior, as any chief. It was too much for her to handle.

Frowning and backing out through the doorway, she'd uttered words she would come to hate herself for for years afterwards. She had prepared them before as a backup plan, in the unlikely case that he said no. Still, they were nowhere near appropriate for the situation."I expected more from you, Hiccup. I guess I was wrong. You're right about one thing - you aren't a Viking."

She remembered storming out of the doorway in confusion and anger, before the memory slipped out of her mind as quickly as it had appeared.

Opening her eyes, she took a shaky breath through her nostrils, which felt incredibly strange and natural at the same time. Blinking, she turned herself over to face the direction she thought she thought Toothless was. Some of the adrenaline of running through the forest earlier was still present, but quickly fading. Her head hurt, but she didn't feel injured outside of that. She could at least hear her heartbeat, if a bit _too_ easily.

As expected, she saw Toothless lying there, pawing halfheartedly at something in the dirt, having not noticed that she had woken up yet. Above him, she could see that the sun had risen higher than she remembered it being when she had woken up. Either she had been passed out for a while, or she had been engrossed in her memories far longer than she preferred.

" _Toothless…"_ She directed the message at him. It didn't quite come as easily as it had before, but she could still manage it nonetheless.

A moment later, his ears perked up, and he turned to look at her. He began to get up, but then sat back down, thinking better of it.

" _Astrid, I'm sorry for scaring you earlier… I should've woken you up more, uh, softly, I guess. Anyways… Are you sure you're okay? I know you're probably tired of me asking that, but-"_

She sent another thought across to him, stopping her from receiving the rest. " _I'm sorry that I freaked out on you earlier, too. It's just, that, well, I got turned into a_ dragon _for Odin's sake. How am I supposed to handle that? Nothing makes sense to me right now. I just… I wish I was back home. Before, when we were at war, It was easier to figure things out, and now… What's happened to me Toothless? What am I?"_ She looked down at herself, finally forcing herself to acknowledge what she had become. " _I guess, just waking up and having a dragon talk in my head just sort of set me over the edge. I mean, Hiccup always told me that you were like any human, that if you could talk, you would sound like just about anyone, but I guess I didn't…"_ Her thought trailed off until she refocused. " _I'm sorry, I just want everything to go back to normal, as soon as possible. What… What did I do wrong, Toothless? Why am I like this?"_ She looked at him desperately, hoping that he knew some answer, some fix for what had happened to her.

That was when she made a decision - talking to Toothless was likely one of the highest points on the list of things she didn't expect to happen to her over the course of the past few days. So, until further notice, she decided to ignore that aspect of the problem and pretend that Toothless was just another Viking in the village that she was talking to - he acted enough like one to trick her brain into thinking that way, and so, until the problem was fixed, she would ignore it, pretending that the weird mind-messages they were using was just like normal talking. It wasn't the best solution, and she figured that it was probably among the things that would make her more dragon than human, but she knew that if she had to solve this problem without talking to _anyone,_ dragon or not, she would go crazy.

Toothless seemed to process her words for a moment, considering his reply, before sighing and letting a huff of air out of his nose. " _I don't know, Astrid. I don't understand what's happened, alright? You think you've got problems…"_

She looked up at him, raising her eyebrow. " _I DO have problems, Toothless. What are you talking about? I was just turned into a dragon for NO OBVIOUS REASON WHATSOEVER-"_ Her eyes widened suddenly as she considered a possibility she hadn't thought of before. She tried to stand up, but ended up settling for rolling onto her stomach and

" _Toothless… Did… Did YOU do this to me? Did you use some weird dragon magic on me to make me like… like this? It makes sense, I mean, you've been the only Night Fury anyone's seen in years - did you getting a bit lonely, perhaps? Wanted a… a mate, or something?"_ Some of her previous energy had returned, and though she still felt far too sore to stand, she tried anyways.

" _Astrid, I - wait! Astrid, Just sit back down and rest a moment, please."_

" _I'm tired of resting! Now give me an answer!"_

" _Or you'll what?"_

" _I'll… I'll…"_ Her thought failed, and she managed to stutter mid thought - something she hadn't believed was possible, though that applied to just about everything that had happened in the past day. She collapsed back down on the ground, defeated - a feeling she'd never experienced before.

Toothless sighed, relaxing, and rolled his eyes. " _Astrid, even if for some terrible reason I DID want to turn you into one of us, I have no idea how I'd do it. We don't really have much magic or anything like that, and all I know is that that metal-string-fire-liquid thing you picked up earlier had something to do with it. I'm as clueless as you are. If the queen was still around… No, that's not how I should be thinking. So, to answer your question, no, I don't think I did this to you. At least not intentionally. If I did, I'm pretty sure I would know. Do YOU know anything about… What happened?"_

She sighed and relaxed some, before replying, " _No, I… I just remember picking up the shield, and then there was something on my head and a lot of pain… then… I think it started from that scar you gave me when we were by the Great Hall yesterday… Then, these…"_ -She stopped to look at one of her hands, no, _paws- "Scales, started growing out of my skin… The rest is kind of blurred."_

Toothless considered her words for a moment, then told her, " _I didn't really know what was happening at first. That stupid rope-ball thing, what do you call them? Bola, made me unable to see you, and I couldn't turn my head. I heard you screaming, and I figured there must have been something attacking you. Luckily, Hiccup taught me how to get out of those a few moons ago. When I got out of it, I just saw, well, a… Dragon, lying there, and I found your furs and hide on the ground. I just thought, well…"_ His thought faded in her mind, but she was able to understand the meaning. She still remembered what happened the first time she woke up, if a bit too well.

" _I went and found Hiccup and brought him back to where I'd found you. He was confused a bit at first, and we probably would have gone back to your… Nest, to get help, but the storm was getting worse, and he said we needed to get you under cover. I tried to tell him otherwise, after all, I've survived worse on my own, I figured that you would be fine."_ He stopped for a moment. She was about to get mad at him again for almost leaving her out in the woods, but swallowed it, deciding to keep her pride, despite all that had happened.

Toothless, somewhat reluctantly, continued, " _Well… It turned out he was right. The storm was really, really bad. I mean, I haven't ridden or even_ seen _wind like that since… Well, ever. The Nadder - what do you call her, Stormfly? Well, Stormfly and I were able to carry you to the cove we were just in, with Hiccup's guidance. Apparently, he saw it when we were flying earlier. I mean, why would he even remember something like that? Sure, we might spend a lot of time together, but honestly - even I don't get him sometimes. Anyways, we laid you down there, and I think Hiccup planned on waiting out the storm until the morning, and, well… Here we are."_ He gestured at the trees around him with one of his paws.

It was then that she realized something, something she had thought of the night before.

" _My Gods… Hiccup! So he knows about this… Well, of course he does. I mean, Hiccup's smart! He reads tons of books that talk about this stuff, and Fishlegs does, too. They can figure this out, they can… fix this."_

Toothless's ears flattened against his head in response, and he frowned at her, giving her a sinking feeling in her stomach. "About that… See, Hiccup, uh…"

As if on cue, Astrid heard a familiar voice calling out somewhere behind Toothless, coming from the direction of the cove. A moment later, Hiccup, _her_ Hiccup, stepped out through some brush into the shaded part of the woods they were in.

"There you are, Toothless! I was wondering where you went. Gods, I was terrified that you two had run off or something. Not that you would do that, but still, I was a bit worried, there! So where's-"

He never got to finish his sentence. Astrid had bounded forward past Toothless, nearly pouncing on top of Hiccup before remembering her newfound size and backing off at the last moment. She couldn't hug him, and she obviously couldn't kiss him, so what was she supposed to do, lick him? No, she wasn't a dragon - she was Astrid Hofferson, a warrior who placed second in dragon training, rode the Nadder Stormfly and lived on Berk under the direct command of Chief Stoick. That was all she was, all she ever wanted to be, and who she would be again as soon as Hiccup fixed everything.

The boy nearly panicked, obviously not used to being approached in that way, and backed up into a tree behind him. She stayed back, but began an odd rant consisting of both the sort of thought waves she had just been sending Toothless, and some verbalization that she realized must have just sounded like growls, but it didn't matter to her. Hiccup was there, and he was going to help her. He was going to fix her.

Another strong thought from Toothless interrupted her." _Astrid, stop it! He doesn't know!"_ Her energy died down, and the sinking feeling returned as she processed what he had said. Cautiously, she replied, " _Doesn't know… what?"_

After a moment's hesitation, she heard him in her mind again, much quieter this time. " _He doesn't know that… That it's you."_ When the thought reached her, she took a moment to bring her head down from the clouds. She realized that Hiccup was holding his hands up to his face defensively, as if protecting himself against something dangerous. She had seen him do that after her threats plenty of times in the past - all boys did - but this time it was different. She recognized the way he held his hands inward, but not in fists, because she had seen him do it hundreds of times. It was what he did whenever he encountered a wild dragon.

Reality finally dawning on her, she backed up as far as she could away from him whilst still being able to make out the details of his face. She wanted it to be the last thing she saw before she left.

She was about to turn into the forest behind her and bolt, leaving behind all traces of her old life - the village, Stoick, Gobber, her parents, Stormfly, Fishlegs, Snotlout and the twins - before a reassuring thought entered her mind. " _Astrid, please don't run off again. I need you to keep your head - Hiccup always tells me he admires you for that, and you can't give up on him, especially now of all times. We can solve this - we can find some way for you to talk to him, to tell him. I mean, he and I almost can - I'm sure we can figure something out. He even tried to teach me to speak your language once. Just… Please don't run away. You can't do that."_

She turned around and looked back at the forest again, clearing her mind to consider the pros and cons of her situation. She was a dragon, or had turned into one anyways. She didn't know why outside of the fact that a trap of some sort had initiated it. Luckily, her mind still seemed to be intact, as she hadn't attacked anyone or gone feral and didn't feel much different from what she had felt like before. But who knew? Toothless seemed human-ish, and he was the most dangerous dragon in the village. Maybe she had already turned… But she didn't think so. She hadn't started craving fish yet, anyways.

She turned her head back towards him slightly, figuring it would help send the message if she was facing him at least somewhat. " _Does it even matter anymore? Toothless… I'm a dragon. You're the only one who knows it's me - not even Hiccup does. That's all there is to it - I'm not a Viking anymore. I'm not_ me _anymore. You and I both have no idea why this happened, and I... I just…"_

Her thought faded out of her mind. Toothless looked back at her, and replied. " _Listen, Astrid. I've seen your courage in battle_ and _in your nest. Whenever you see a problem, you never run away from it. Now isn't the time to start, alright? So, maybe you've turned into a… Dragon. We can fix this. All three of us. Besides, we've all been in much worse situations than this. This time we're all together. It doesn't end this way."_

She thought about it - not just what he had said, but the situation as a whole, and more logically than she had at first. So, she had been turned into a dragon - on a scale factor of the worst things that could happen to her, she thought it would be up with being captured by Daggur and being surrounded by about fifty Nightmares, but she couldn't be sure - she had never thought about it before, of course.

With that said, she understood that whatever had turned her into what she was must have been or possessed some sort of magic. Magic, of course, wasn't entirely unheard of on Berk - it was just rarely seen. While nobody was quite sure _what_ made most dragons able to breathe fire, turn invisible, or able to do any of the other strange abilities some of them had, it was always assumed that these things were simply a part of them, just as eating and walking was to humans - not some strange curse or spell. Until then, it had simply been considered something that dragons did that had no major effects on others. But did it?

In all of the tales and stories of old, whether true or not, the heroes and warriors always seemed to know not only _what_ happened to them, but _why._ There was always a witch or angry God who announced a great curse or spell's properties just before it happened, and stated the great and genuinely quite obvious crimes justifying the curse along with it. So what was she being punished for? She thought about all of the bad deeds she had done in her life. Could it be making peace with the dragons? It seemed fitting - turning her into a Night Fury, of all things. But then, Hiccup hadn't been transformed, at least not yet, and he seemed more responsible for it than her.

Brushing it off, she moved on to the next step in problem solving - finding the source of the problem, which, given the circumstances, pointed to the trap that had nearly killed her the day before. It was likely set by that girl they had been chasing in the woods earlier that day, confirming any doubt she had that she was a spy from some rogue force, likely one of Daggur's spies or anyone who had something against Berk, which represented a lot of tribes. Of course, it hadn't seemed to have much in terms of magical properties when she saw it, but she hadn't gotten a very good look at. She would have to go back and look at it, which meant that…

She sighed and looked at Hiccup, who was still cowering near the brush, his hands held out defensively in front of him with what was probably a justifiably confused look on his face. Concentrating, she tried to talk to him, hearing the growl she had expected come out instead. She tried again, this time doing her best to make the odd gurgling sounds coming out of her mouth sound like words, but it didn't work. She just couldn't make the same sounds with her throat that used to come to her so easily. An old saying came to her - something her grandmother had often told her when she was still alive. "You will never truly appreciate things until you don't have them anymore." She would say this to Astrid whenever she would complain about the smaller things in life when she was younger, like not getting enough presents at Snoggletog, or not getting to try mead despite the fact that Ruffnut and all of the boys her age had gotten to already. Well, all of the boys but Hiccup - She heard that he hadn't ever had any even then, though it was probably for the better.

Though she was pretty sure that her grandmother hadn't been talking about turning into a dragon when she told her that, the truth of it still applied nonetheless. She, just like anyone else on Berk, had lost a lot even from a young age. Few of her blood relatives had perished in the raids, but in Berk, everyone was family, and so every life lost affected the entire tribe. Then it had all stopped, the deaths, the raids, the fire... all because of Hiccup. Which was why she couldn't give up.

She turned back to Toothless, trying unsuccessfully to raise an eyebrow.

" _Uh… Any ideas?"_

He rolled his eyes. " _Don't you think I've tried? What am I supposed to..."_ He paused, thinking, then turned his head back to Hiccup, who looked even more confused than before, and did something strange. He purred, pointed to his mouth with one of his paws, and scratched in the dirt twice.

" _What's that supposed to mean?"_ Astrid asked the Night Fury.

" _It means that-"_

"So… You can understand me?"

She whipped her head back around to Hiccup, who had finally broken the silence in the forest. She rolled her eyes and nodded.

"Amazing! I wonder if all Night Furys are like that. I mean, can all dragons understand human language? How would that even work? I guess maybe their ears have some sort of built-in translator, or something. Weird. Hey, so-"

He had started to move closer to her, lowering his hands. Instinctively, she backed away, keeping a few yards between them.

An expression lit up Hiccup's face, and he snapped his fingers, as though he had just remembered something.

"Gods, I almost forgot. Man, some dragon trainer _I_ am, huh, bud? Hey, listen, it's okay. I'm not going to hurt you." He raised his hand up to her, in the same gesture she had seen him use dozens of times on dragons, whether it was in the forest or the killing ring, the town or an abandoned village. She reared her head back, horrified. She knew exactly what he expected her to do, and she _hated_ him for it.

" _Oh-ho, NO. I am not some kind of pet dragon. I don't care if he thinks I'm one of you - there is no way I am doing your weird nose-hand-bond thing. That is for dragons, and dragons-"_

" _Astrid, just do it."_

She turned to him, incredulous. " _What?! Are you crazy? I should have known - you ARE going to turn me into one of you. I bet you've got a saddle back home, just waiting to be strapped onto my-"_

" _For your information,"_ He interrupted her thought with a stronger one. " _I am not a PET. Neither are any of the others of the blood in the nest. You should learn that - I'm surprised Hiccup hasn't taught you that yet. And I know this seems like we're flying backwards a bit from trying to tell him what's going on, but just hear me out. You've been there enough times to know that this works_ _every_ _time_ _. Listen, I know that you're Astrid to me, and I'm sure we'll explain that to Hiccup soon enough, but to him, you're just one of the blood, I mean, a dragon, that he found in the woods near a human-made fire-spitter. I'm sorry I have to tell you that, but it's the truth."_

She turned away from him, feeling as though she were on the verge of tears. After a moment, he continued, his thoughts seemingly quieter, but still present in her mind. " _He's… He's used this method to calm us since he freed me, and it's worked every time. If he tried it on you and it didn't work… Well, I don't know what he'd do. Astrid, this is the only chance we have if you ever want to talk to him again. If you ever want to be yourself again. So, just… Do it, Astrid. Please."_

She considered what he had said, and decided he was right. She was a warrior - if this was what it took to fix this mess, she would do it - she would play the part of a dragon, if only for a moment. She had been selfish and weak enough already. It was time to toughen up.

She whipped her head back around, closing her eyes for a moment before sending another thought to Toothless. " _Alright, fine. Let's get this over with. What do I do?"_

" _Great! Well, you, um.. Just kind of…"_

She stared at him for a moment. " _How can you not know?! You do this with Hiccup, like, every day."_

" _Well, it just kind of happens on its own. I don't even think about it. It's like I have some sort of… Connection, with him, and it moves me without thinking about it. I don't know."_

She rolled her eyes again. " _Fine, I'll just figure it out on my own. You two really ARE just like each other, you know that? You certainly annoy me equally."_

She saw Toothless smirk out of the corner of her eye, before she turned back to Hiccup. He was looking away from her, back towards the cove - something he would do sometimes when the dragon he was taming was more protective or personal - she had no idea why, but the gesture seemed to mean a lot to dragons, for some reason.

She shifted slightly, and started to move closer to him… And then it happened.

It was just like Toothless had described, and yet nothing could have prepared her for it. It was like her body had been possessed, and she was unable to control what she did or even _thought._ Though the most horrifying part of it was how unbearably _natural_ it felt - it came almost easily to her, and she didn't feel the rush of adrenaline or resistance she expected. It just felt… Ordinary.

Although she didn't think it could, it got even weirder. Her body gently guided her into the crest of Hiccup's hand. His fingers and palm were damp with sweat, and felt calloused from working in the shop, but to her it was a familiar feeling in the world of confusion she had been plunged into.

What happened next could only be described as a _connection_ , in the purest of its forms. A stream of information passed into her mind, and for a moment, she thought that it was Toothless, but she knew it couldn't have been - it wasn't his thoughts, wasn't his memories.

For those few seconds, she was Hiccup. She saw the world from his eyes, saw his ideals and dreams of a world where all dragons and humans alike worked and lived together in harmony, where he was free to build and do as he pleased, to fly on Toothless over a vast, endless ocean for the rest of his life, and she wanted it, too. She saw his struggle when he was younger, and how he was cast away from the other kids his age. She experienced how he was ignored, if he wasn't being yelled at by his father. How he was bullied and beat up by Snotlout, Ruff, Tuff, even Fishlegs, and… By her. Years of memories passed through her mind over the course of a mere few seconds. She felt all of his emotions and thoughts pass through her, many of which she recognized, but even more that she didn't. She felt his excitement at finding another Night Fury, and his simultaneous worry and concern for her well being in the back of his mind. It felt as though it must have been too much to take in at once, and yet it kept coming, endless and vast.

And then it stopped. All of a sudden, the feelings retreated back to where they had come from, the emotions and worry and concern leaving her mind as quickly as they had entered. The memories all faded, leaving behind only the things she had known before, and she was barely able to recall even the most obvious and simple of some of the memories, despite all she had seen and known a moment before. She was left with nothing but a single memory in her mind - the first time he had bonded with Toothless. She hadn't been there, she hadn't even _known_ at the time, but it was still fresh in her mind.

There was a yellow sun in the sky, dying everything in the cove she was able to recognize pink. She heard the rushing flow of a waterfall behind her, and saw a lake out of the corner of her eye. Dominating her vision, however, was Toothless. He looked the same as he always had, though he didn't have the saddle or the red tailfin she had come to recognize him for. She watched as her hand, no, _his_ hand raised up to Toothless's face. He growled at her, and Hiccup's hand pulled back some. Then, her vision shifted, turning to face one of the stone cliffs in the valley. She felt his hand raise up, and for a moment, she felt Toothless's nose slowly creep into Hiccup's hand, like a nervous pup, before the memory suddenly cut off.

She was torn back to reality all too suddenly, but she knew that she could probably still recall the memory if she tried. Astrid shook her head slowly and brought it backwards, astonished. She slowly turned back to Toothless, and timidly asked him, " _Is… Is it always like that? When you… You…"_

A small smile crept its way on Toothless's face, and he nodded. " _It's amazing, isn't it? To think that all of the years, we of the blood - dragons, I mean, have killed and set fire to your nests and, what do you call them? Homes. The queen, she, she could have made us her slaves forever, but… Hiccup, he… He's really saved us. He's brought us to see a way we couldn't ever have even thought of before. It's incredible."_ He was grinning at her by the time he finished his sentence.

" _It's…"_ She began. She considered agreeing with him for a moment - he was right, after all. If humans knew what the dragons experienced when they went through that, _nobody_ , not any clan or tribe, would distrust the dragons anymore. They practically became human for a moment when they went through it, or at least she had.

But she couldn't let Toothless know that. She wouldn't let him have that control over her, and there was _no way_ she would admit to having the same experience as a dragon, _especially_ after all that had happened.

" _...Stupid,"_ She finished. Toothless dropped his grin. " _That was WAY too weird for me. I don't know how or why you still do it, honestly. At least it's over with - I never want to do that again, and with any luck, I won't have to."_ She sent those thoughts to him, but a small part of her still relished in the connection she had shared with him. After all, she had never quite understood Hiccup. This had been the most crystal-clear understanding of who he really was that she had gotten in _years_ , and yet she still had more questions than she had before the link was formed.

Toothless rolled his eyes, luckily seeming not to have received Astrid's true thoughts. " _Well, I guess you're not truly a… Dragon, anyways. So what now?"_

She stared at him for a moment. " _What do you mean, 'what now?' You're the dragon here. You've practically mastered talking to Hiccup, I mean, what do YOU do when you need to tell him something important? Growl?"_ Toothless responded by hissing at her, a thought passing to her mind in what she figured must have been the dragon's equivalent of a mutter.

She turned back to Hiccup, clinging on to one hope that she felt could only work with him, of all people. If she had received all of those memories from him, all of those thoughts and ideas and emotions, then maybe, just maybe, he had gotten _something_ from her - an experience like that simply _could not_ be one-way.

Hiccup was looking at his hand thoughtfully, and for a moment, she almost thought he knew, that he understood, that this whole mess would finally come to an end because she was _finally_ able to get something across to him… Then he grinned and turned to Toothless.

"Well, I guess that's two Night furys down now, huh, bud? Not too bad, though who's counting, right? Honestly, there's so much I can _learn_ from you both, I mean, this is _definitely_ going down in the Book of Dragons. I'll have to write a whole new _book's_ worth of notes when we get her back to the village."

His words hit her like the blunt end of an axe to the face. Writing! of course! She felt incredibly humiliated - she wasn't one of the twins, so how could she be so _stupid_ as to forget the one way she could talk without her voice? Though, she was willing to forgive herself for it - she had, after all, been through a lot. Still, a true warrior should always keep their cunning and wits about them, and she had failed to do so from the moment she woke up.

Enthusiastically, she tried to grin at Hiccup, feeling her mouth widen and her long tongue slide unnaturally along her sharpened teeth, but she didn't care. It wouldn't matter once Hiccup found out. He and Fishlegs used to study all _kinds_ of this stuff when they were younger! He probably already knew how to fix it.

He didn't seem to notice her, lost in his own thoughts. "Man, wait until Astrid hears about…" His voice trailed off for a moment, and the excited expression on his face dropped into one of worry. "Oh, Gods… Astrid! Toothless, she's still out there somewhere, and that girl, too! The spy! Gods, we need to get Stormfly and go find her, _now,_ before anything else. I shouldn't have bothered myself with this dragon..." Before she could respond, he had rushed over to Toothless, hopping onto his saddle and clicking his leg into the tail fin-adjuster.

Toothless didn't take off, instead turning to look at Astrid with a tired look on his face.

Seeing him turn, Hiccup looked back over at Astrid, an expression of relief relaxing his worry. "Oh, that's right. Toothless was trying to tell me about something between you and her. Did you get in a fight or something? Did you save her? Either way, you must know where she is. Just lead the way and we'll fly behind you."

She sighed - why couldn't he just figure it out? - and bounded over to him. She began to write her name in the dirt with one of her talons, which was extended at the time.

Hiccup's mouth dropped open, and he slowly climbed off of Toothless.

"Incredible… You know how to _write?!_ What on Berk _are you_? Where did you come from? I mean, if I had known, I could have taught Toothless to write years…" His voice trailed off as he read what she had written - it was her name in the simplest possible form. When he finished, he looked up at her, and she gestured sharply at herself.

"Yeah, so you know where she is! I don't even know where you got her name from, but you can explain that later. Now, come on, let's go."

Astrid let out a groan, which came out more like a growl than she would have preferred, and wiped away the message with her paw. She started again, trying to be more specific. _If this try doesn't work,_ she thought to herself, _nothing will._

In clear, bold, simple letters, three words were written out in the dust in front of her:

 **I AM ASTRID**

She quickly underlined the word "Am" with her claw, then pointed to herself again, even more sharply than she had before.

"I… Am…" He began reading it out loud, before his voice trailed off, and he slowly turned his eyes up to stare at her. She watched as his went through several different expressions at once, each of them containing some form of bafflement. His entire hand shaking, he raised a finger up to her, his breathing became rapid as he replied, "You… You have… Her eyes…"

He stumbled back, and brought his hand up to his forehead, leery. He tripped and fell onto Toothless, who caught him before he slid off his saddle. All the while he kept his gaze firmly set on her, a terrified and awestruck expression slowly creeping across his face.

"You're… My Gods, you're… Astrid…?" His last word came out in a wheeze, and she nodded quickly.

"Dear… Gods…" He looked as though he wanted to say something more, a lot more, in fact, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he passed out, falling back on Toothless.


	5. The Reaction

**No way... I'm... On schedule... Holy cows...**

 **I don't even care if it's 10:30 at night - I'm counting this. Though it being vacation DOES help somewhat.**

 **So, here's the thing. The last chapter, this chapter, and the next chapter are probably the most nerve-racking I've written thus far, which is why I absolutely, capital N, _NEED_ your reviews. Honestly, I'm sure you're quite tired of hearing that from other writers, but reviews are what keep me writing this story, so if you're enjoying it, just leave something. Anything. Well, preferably not "This is literally the worst story I've ever read, I hate your guts" but if that's your opinion, go for it. Ask questions as well. This is the internet, remember - anonymity is your friend, and I'll almost always give you an answer.**

 **Getting away from that, special thanks to those of you who followed and favorited this story - it means a lot. I'm glad to see that you're interested.**

 **So, lastly, I'll mention one more time that I now have a Wattpad account as well, under the same name, with the same story(ies) and profile picture. Just in case you missed that.**

 **For those of you who for some reason have skipped the last three or four chapters to see what happens in the story... I'd really recommend you go back and read the others first. Seriously.**

 **How to Train Your Dragon is property of DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc.**

* * *

To say that it was awkward for Astrid and Toothless to sit there waiting for Hiccup to wake up would be an understatement like no other.

After a few minutes with no response from the boy viking, Toothless asked Astrid if he should try to rouse him himself. She disagreed at first, but after a moment's thought decided that he would probably end up sleeping the rest of the day away if they didn't do something.

Toothless had started gently at first, trying to rock him back and forth on his saddle in an attempt to slowly bringing him out of his slumber, but it only seemed to send him into a deeper sleep, annoying Toothless even more. Astrid could see the dragon's impatience grow as he started to rock him faster, and swung higher than he had before, shaking him around and likely rattling his brain quite a bit. But the boy still did not stir. Finally, with an frustrated snort, Toothless lurched the boy out of his saddle, flinging him onto the ground a few feet away head-first. Astrid cringed and looked away, hearing his unmanly screech as he was hurled through the air, then the _THUMP_ of his body hitting the ground a moment later. As tough as she told everyone she was, she _hated_ to see Hiccup get hurt.

After a moment, Hiccup put one of his hands out on the ground, clutching at his head with the other, and brought himself up to a kneel on his metal leg. He turned his head up and stared at Astrid for a moment, then blinked, squinting as though he didn't think she was actually there. She expected to see fear or hatred in his reaction - anything to show he had at least _acknowledged_ what had happened, but she was instead met with a sort of dull disappointment, the kind of look he took on whenever one of his inventions wasn't working.

He sighed and shook his head, then replied sarcastically, "Great, so it wasn't a dream - my girlfriend really turned into a dragon. Just perfect. How's that for relationship issues?" He chuckled to himself for a moment, smiling.

Astrid gaped at him for a moment, before turning to Toothless, who just shrugged his wings and licked one of his paws in response. She reeled back around to face the boy, baring her teeth.

" _Hiccup! I just turned into a dragon! Do you think this is some kind of a joke?! This is really me in here - I didn't exactly have this happen WILLINGLY!"_

She tried to send the message to him for a moment, before mentally slapping herself for being so stupid. She was way too used to Toothless's mind-talking already, and she hadn't even been using it for a day. Although it was probably a step backwards from not completely turning into a dragon, she had a terrible feeling that she would have to get used to it, at least until they figured out how to fix everything.

After staring at her for a moment, Hiccup cringed and scratched the back of his neck, suddenly looking quite embarrassed. "So when Toothless was trying to tell me… And he said he knew… And that's why you ran… And then, with the hand… Oh my Gods, the bonding thing! Astrid, I… I'm so sorry about that. I just thought… I had no idea you were, um… In there..." His voice trailed off, and his cheeks grew red as the summer sun.

She nodded at him, accepting his apology. As scared as she had been to go through the… Bonding, as Hiccup called it, she was able to forgive him for it - he'd had no idea that it was her - to him, it had been just another dragon he could train in the woods, if a Night Fury, at that. As much as she hated to admit it, she was willing to accept that she had… Changed, at least for the moment. If she ever wanted to fix it, she knew she would have to at least _acknowledge_ what had happened. Besides... Connecting with him hadn't been all that bad…

He looked at her with concern and asked, "Are you okay? I mean, of course you're not _okay_ okay. But do you have any pains at all? Does anything hurt more than you think it should?"

 _Well, apart from growing scales, wings, and a tail after I had a bucket of burning hot acid dumped on my head, I feel completely fine!_ She thought sarcastically, before wondering if she had accidentally sent the message to Toothless. She _really_ needed to learn how to control that.

She started to shake her head in response, but then turned back to the Night Fury beside her, trying to raise an eyebrow. " _Um, am I... Okay?"_

Toothless turned to face her, his eyebrows coming together. He sniffed the air for a moment, before responding. " _You look healthy enough, though I've never seen another Night Fury of the blood, so I suppose that's just based on assumption. I can't smell any infections or diseases on you, either, which is always a good thing."_

She turned her head back to Hiccup, wondering how Toothless could _smell_ injuries. Blood she could understand, and she could already tell how much better a Night Fury's nose was than a human's, based only on her experience as one thus far. But a specific wound or scar? How would that work? She couldn't help but wonder if, on the small chance that they _didn't_ change her back within the coming few days, or hours, even, she could learn how to do it herself… But it didn't matter - Hiccup would doubtless solve everything as soon as she explained what had happened, and besides, there was no way she would _ever_ succumb to becoming a dragon that much. Never in a millenia.

Hiccup blinked slowly and rubbed his forehead. "So… Alright, Let me get this straight - You and Toothless found the trap in the woods, you tripped it and something happened that made you turn into a… A Night Fury. You passed out, and… Toothless came back to find me. Somehow, you can talk to each other, but I can't hear it. Is that right?"

She nodded. She hadn't remembered seeing Toothless run off to find Hiccup, of course, but he had told her as much when he was explaining what happened. At the very least, she was glad they were all on the same page, more or less.

"Okay…" He sighed and closed his eyes. "This… This is a lot to take in. Astrid, I'm so sorry, this is all my fault. If I had just gone with Toothless, then maybe… This," - he gestured to all of her - "wouldn't have happened. I just..."

He looked down, and his words faded, noticing that she was writing in the dirt again. She wrote in the simplest terms she could, trying to get the message out as fast as possible. She wasn't exactly a fast writer or reader as a human, never mind trying to write with dragon-claws, so she knew the words likely came out rather untidy and confusing, but she also knew that Hiccup would at least get the meaning.

 **NOT YOUR FAULT**

 **YOU MUST KNOW HOW TO FIX**

 **YOU READ BOOKS LIKE THIS ALL TIME**

 **FISHLEGS TOO**

 **I KNOW YOU HEARD OF THIS BEFORE**

 **YOU MUST HAVE**

He looked down at her, a desperate and brooding expression on his face that made her heart fall down to her stomach.

"I… Astrid, I… I just don't know." The world around Astrid suddenly blanked out, and she was barely aware that Hiccup was still talking, never mind what he was saying. "I mean, Dad and Gobber used to tell stories and legends when I was younger about trolls that used to be human before witches cursed and exiled them, and stuff like that. But you turning into a dragon… I've never heard of anything like that before. I… I'd have to go back to the great hall, and do some research, but a lot of those books got burnt up last time Snotlout let Hookfang in there. It must have something to do with that trap you set off yesterday, but I just… I haven't seen _anything_ about shape-shifting acid or liquids with skin-changing properties in any of the books I've read, and to be honest, I don't think anyone else in the village has, either. I don't want to tell you this, - believe me, Astrid - but I have no idea where to start."

Inside of Astrid's mind, a battle was unfolding. Looming in one corner, there was despair - After all, if Hiccup couldn't fix this, who could? If she gave in, she would be forced into becoming a dragon, to live as what she had turned into for the rest of her life. For once, the full impact of the idea swept over her like wildfire. She would have few choices - in the worst case scenario, she would be exiled from Berk, if not accused of practicing witchcraft and burned on a stake, if you could even burn dragons. Assuming she wasn't, what then? Well, perhaps Hiccup and Toothless could find her some safe cave or abandoned hut to dwell in, somewhere hopefully on the island - No matter how cast out she would be from the village, she knew she would never be able to bring herself to leave her home. She could see the rest of her life play out before her - At first, Toothless and Hiccup might come to visit her, to check on her and ensure that she was still alive and well, and bring her food. Every day he would come to tell her that he loved her no matter what had happened to her, that he would find some way to make the village accept her, that he would change her back... But then those visits would change. Every day would turn into every week, and then every month, with each instance becoming less about his concern over her health and his compassion, and more about whether she was still living - a sort of dark, emotionless curiosity that she never wanted to see. With every year that passed, she would become more and more of a… Of a dragon, slowly becoming even less human than Toothless and Stormfly seemed. Then, one day, whether it be a hundred years later or barely a few, Toothless would visit her, teary-eyed, and tell her that Hiccup had been killed by some enemy tribesman or crazy dragon he found in the woods, and she knew she would tell herself that she could have been there to save him, if only she hadn't picked up that stupid shield so long ago. But at that point, it wouldn't even matter - She wouldn't even know him anymore, wouldn't even remember him, or anyone. By that point, she would be all gone - she wouldn't even remember that Toothless was ever more than just another Night Fury, more than a… Potential mate, even. All she would think about was all dragons' needs were - food and shelter, the basic survival needs. She would be a savage. The village would slowly forget about her as well, as she shifted from a tragic case and life lost to a legend, a myth. She could hear the children talking about it, could _see_ the words being written on the pages of storybooks years in the future. _Astrid,_ it read, _the girl who became a Night Fury, and vanished forever. Though some even say that she still lives on this very island, preying on those who dare venture near her..._ And in small words near the bottom, a necessary precaution in red ink: _Extremely dangerous - kill on sight._ The worst part? it would be completely true.

Yes, the despair of the situation was most certainly a contender.

Huddling in the other corner, shaded and fragile, there was hope. Hope that there was a cure for her out there, and that Hiccup could somehow find it before the situation got out of hand, before the village exiled her, before she turned full-dragon. Hope that somewhere, tucked away in some forgotten corner of the Great Hall was a book documenting something, _anything_ , that would explain what cruel witchcraft had turned her into the very offspring of lightning and death itself. Hope that maybe, _just maybe_ , resting in the confines of that book was a way out of the terrible mess she had gotten herself into.

The despair was tempting - it stood there, reclusive but dangerous in the shadows, seemingly an easy way out at first sight, but hiding underneath the surface, a life of sorrowful remorse, and regret that she had never tried to fix her problem. And so, she chose the underdog - she chose hope. She needed it then more than ever.

She lifted her head back up to Hiccup, who still seemed to be verbally listing off all of the things he thought might help her, mixing his own thoughts in between sentences. She couldn't help but admire his ability to go straight to fixing the problem, something that she was more than glad they shared on the situation. Toothless, on the other hand…

" _Astrid, what… You're sure you're feeling alright?"_

She rolled her eyes and looked at him. " _Yes, I'm fine, you stupid reptile! Now stop asking me that! What makes you think something's so wrong with me?"_

His mouth fell open, and he shook his head back and forth, before responding, " _Wrong with you?! Astrid, you just became one of the blood! I mean, you're... You're supposed to be Stormfly's human! Just a moment ago you were having a mind-crisis every few seconds! Now you're acting WAY too calm about this - I mean, I'm just afraid that you're, I don't know, losing your wings, or something."_

She narrowed her eyes at him - he had just brought up the exact thing she hadn't wanted to think about, above all else." _Losing my w… Listen, Toothless. You're right - I should be completely freaking out right now. I should probably be writhing around on the ground in a complete panic. And you know what? Maybe I am. Maybe, on the inside, I'm terrified at everything that's happening. I'm terrified that my legs don't feel right, and that I can't feel my fingers anymore because they are NOT THERE. Maybe I'm freaking out about the fact that I'm covered in scales, have these huge leathery wings sprouting out of my back right now, and what feels like a whole new arm that moves like a snake coming out of my butt. Yes, you're right - I am acting a little weird. But that's only because I DO NOT WANT TO DEAL WITH THIS RIGHT NOW. And, based on how fast Hiccup can normally solve these problems, I hopefully won't have to. So, I'm ignoring the problem. As soon as we fix this, I can act like it never even happened, because right now, this is the only way I have to fight it without hurting myself!"_ She huffed at him and tried to ignore his response, but ended up listening to him anyways.

" _Astrid... you can't just ignore what's happened to you. I've tried ignoring changes in the past, but it never ends well. The queen used to tell those of the blood - dragons, I mean - that there are two reactions that we all have two choices whenever we face a problem - fight it, or fly away. She used to tell us that humans acted the same way, but then I thought that she just meant in combat with us. After all, I always saw humans in your nest that chose to run whenever we hunted there, but there were always just as many that fought. After Hiccup untied me the day he shot me down, I… I didn't think he was a warrior. I thought he was a… What do you call them? Coward. I thought he was one who ran away from the fights and hunting parties. But then… I realized he wasn't. He became like a brother I never had. He brought us together, Astrid. You and me. I don't understand a lot about humans, but I know that doing something like that takes more courage than all the warriors in your nest have, combined._ He paused for a moment to let her respond, but when she didn't, he continued.

" _I've seen you out there, too. You're not just a warrior - you're a leader. You're like him. For all the moon's turns I've known you, you've never backed down from a challenge, whether it be on the battlefield or in your nest. Ignoring what's happened to you might be easy for you to do now, but soon you'll realize that you can't fix this without at least opening your eyes to the problem. I might be a… Dragon, but I don't want you to stay this way, believe me. I don't know if you're right for him, but you're Hiccup's mate, and I want you to stay that way. I want you to keep him safe. One day, you'll raise children together that will become the next leaders of your nest, is that right?"_ She felt herself blush, but nodded. He narrowed his eyes, thinking, then continued, " _You need to be human to do that. You're Astrid of the humans, friend of dragons. You can't just make this problem go away without facing what's happened first. I won't let you run away again, either."_

She knew that he was probably staring at her, waiting for a response again, but she refused to return the gaze. Eventually he dropped it and padded back over to Hiccup, who was writing something down in a notebook he had seemingly pulled out of thin air. After a moment, she mumbled back her own thought, " _You have a very odd definition of 'hunt'. What are we to you, prey, or something?"_

He looked back at her, astonished, and replied " _Hunt?! That is an old term, we've used it for years to describe the… Trips. No, of course not, I meant that it was…"_ He thought for a moment and frowned, before responding, " _I guess we don't have a proper term for it in our tongue. What did you call them, in the nest?"_

" _Well… We called them raids…"_

He looked up at the sky for a moment, and then replied, as if trying the word out for the first time, " _Raids… Interesting. What exactly does raid mean?"_

She began to reply, a bit surprised, " _Well, a raid is…"_ She stopped herself after a moment, baffled by what she was saying. " _Why am I even telling you this? It doesn't matter, I'll be human again soon…"_

" _Well,"_ He said, " _That's all the more reason to tell me right now. You can explain it to me, and I'll be able to ask you questions. There are SOME benefits to what happened to you, you know."_

" _No,"_ She hissed back at him, " _There are not. There is absolutely nothing GOOD about my turning into a dragon - a Night Fury, nonetheless."_

" _Well,"_ He replied, a sly grin crawling onto his face, " _At least I got you to accept that it happened."_

She was about make a comeback, before she realized Hiccup had dropped his notebook, and was staring at both of them, awe-struck.

"Wow," he began, "so you two can talk to each other with your minds? That must be one hell of a conversation you're having, then."

She realized that Toothless and her were face-to-face, with only a foot of space in-between them. After a moment, she broke off from the conversation, giving Toothless her best "We'll finish this later" look, and turned to Hiccup with an equally venomous stare. He picked his book back up, and after a moment - with a fair bit of stuttering - replied, "Sorry, it's just… Well, think about it! With this, we could finally talk to each other! Toothless, and I, that is. How does that even work, anyways? Are you in each other's minds, or something? That's… Amazing. Think about everything we could put in the Book of Dragons! I mean, what we can learn from Toothless… And, uh, you too…" She hardened her glare and huffed again. He blushed as though he'd just said something inappropriate, which to her, he had. "Right, moving on… So, we have no idea who set that trap. I think it might have been that girl we were chasing yesterday, but to be honest I'm not even sure she was trespassing at all, though I don't see why she'd run away from us if she wasn't up to something. But who knows? Maybe she's just a hermit that lives out in the woods here. Of course, you'd think that my father would tell me about something like that, but once again, who's to say? I've seen stranger things in this forest... Anyways, what matters right now is what exactly _turned you into_ a dragon, not so much _who,_ though we'll probably have to get to that soon enough. I've never heard of a chemical or substance of any kind that would turn anything into another creature, and anyways, I have a feeling that there's something else going on here beyond that acid that we don't see. Something… Magical. Either way, we need to go back to the trap."

She nodded at him as she watched him hop onto Toothless, and tried to follow when they started walking back towards the cove, only to quite abruptly remember that she was standing on all fours, trip over both her front and back feet simultaneously, and fall on her face for the umpteenth time that day. To make it worse, she felt her wing being nearly crushed under her body, and thought she felt the urge to lick it as soon as possible, but figured that she must have just imagined it.

"Astrid!" Hiccup yelled, turning at the sound of her scream as the wing went under her. He jumped off of Toothless and ran over to her to her, worried.

"Come on, roll over. I need to check your wing," He replied, likely not remembering it was Astrid he was talking to, and not just a Night Fury he found in the woods. She was annoyed, to say the least, but complied anyways.

He frowned and said, "This… Could be a problem."

After a moment, she stood back up to all fours, glad that she didn't feel any pain, but still nervous after hearing Hiccup's words.

 **BROKEN?**

Hiccup shook his head after seeing her question in the dirt. "No, you seem to be fine, as far as I can tell. But, well, you can't even walk a few feet. The trap's at least a few miles from here, if not more. I figured you'd be able to make it there, but I guess I forgot that… You know…" He gestured at her feet, making her close her eyes and let out a sigh. Once again, she was reminded of what she had turned into, and she had to subdue her instinctual urge to throw a fit of panic and anger as soon as the words came out of his mouth. Maybe Toothless was right… Maybe she did need to stop lying to herself… But not just yet.

She was about to write a response before she received yet another message from Toothless. " _Tell him that he and Stormfly can go, and I will stay here with you."_ She turned back to look at him, surprised, but he continued to stare blankly at Hiccup.

" _Toothless… I need to go back there with him. There's no way I can just stay here with you. Besides-"_ He turned to look at her, and she was cut off by him again, unable to finish sending the message. " _It works better this way, Astrid. I have my own guess as to why you can't even walk all of a sudden, but unfortunately I can't explain why right now, because we really don't have the time, and I doubt that you'll like the answer. If Hiccup goes back with Stormfly, he can figure out whatever he was talking about with the human-acid-spitter and make it back by the end of the day. Aside from that, I had some… Things, I wanted to ask you about."_

Astrid sighed. She could only guess what Toothless wanted to talk to her about, but aside from that, she had to admit that he was right. She figured that she could probably make it back to the trap site, given enough time, but she had a feeling it would take hours for her to get used to walking on all fours, as natural as it felt, and she didn't really feel like seeing Stormfly in the… Body, she had, either.

She turned back to Hiccup, frowning, and wrote the message in the dirt.

 **TOOTHLESS SAYS YOU GO TO TRAP WITH STORMFLY**

 **I STAY HERE WITH HIM**

"That's amazing!" Hiccup said a moment later, grinning, "We can finally talk to each other! At least with more than nods and stuff. And, uh, for as long as you stay… Like this, Astrid."

She narrowed her eyes at him and quickly scribbled in the dirt.

 **DON'T GET ANY IDEAS**

"Of course not," Hiccup replied, his smile dropping some. "Are you sure about this, Astrid? The last two times I left you two alone you turned into a dragon, and nearly ran away, from what I can gather."

Her eyes widened as she realized something, and wrote another line in the dirt after moving ahead some.

 **HOWS YOUR LEG?**

"Oh, this?" He gestured to his metal foot, and smiled again. "It's fine - A pin just got out of place when we crashed - I was able to fix it while you two were gone. I still need to make an adjustment when we get back to the… Village…" This time, it was his turn to come to a realization. "Gods, Astrid, the Village! That was a huge storm we had last night. My Dad probably has half of Berk out looking for us. If he finds us out here…" He shook his head, "I don't know what he'll do, honestly."

Astrid thought about it. She knew it would likely be better off if less people knew about what had happened, though she couldn't bear living with herself if she knew that nobody else found out but Hiccup. If something happened to him, then the situation could end up worse than if they found out and banished her. Not only would her story be lost forever, but she would have to play the part of a dragon, living in the village and eating fish for the rest of her life to avoid being banished. Still, maybe there was some way they could tell the village that she had turned into a Night Fury and _didn't_ deserve to be banished for witchcraft. The more she thought about it, the more possible it seemed, but until the time came, she was clueless.

Hiccup's brows were creased in frustration, obviously having similar thoughts. After a moment, he looked up. "Alright," he began, "If I can get back to that trap soon enough, I could bring the liquid to Gothi, and she might be able to make an antidote, or at least explain to me _why_ this happened. If it all goes well, we might be able to solve this by the end of the day. Though I doubt Gothi's ever seen anything like this before, if anyone on the Island knew anything about this, it would be her." He started running back towards the cove, his feet digging into the mud and dirt, still wet from the shower the night before. "I'M GONNA TAKE STORMFLY BACK TO THE TRAP," he yelled back over his shoulder, "I'LL SEE YOU BACK HERE IN A LITTLE WHILE… MAYBE."

She rolled her eyes, and thought to herself, _And I'll still be back here, your everyday Night Fury girl… Probably."_

A few minutes later, she saw the familiar shape of Stormfly rising over the trees in the noonday light, Hiccup riding on her back. With a sigh, she turned back to Toothless. "So," she asked him, "just what exactly did you want to talk to me about?"

* * *

"WILL SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME?! ANYONE?!" Syl knew nobody was looking for her, but she was out of options.

Rather than stay curled up in a ball and slowly wither away in the tiniest cave on the island, she had decided she would be a woman of action, something her mother would _never_ expect her to be. A few hours into the middle of the night - which seemed colder than she remembered Berk being - she had made another important decision: If she ever got out of that stupid, damp cave, she would make it her _life goal_ to prove her mother wrong. Of course, she had no idea exactly _what_ she would do to her, but she knew it had to be rebellious enough to make her mother wish she had _never_ exiled her for as long as she lived. And if that plan happened to involve a little bit of revenge? Okay, a _lot_ of revenge - then so be it.

At first, she had tried brute force, which she knew probably wouldn't have much of an effect, anyways. Nonetheless, she had spent the better half of what she assumed to be morning, based on the daylight seeping through the cracks in the wall, trying to kick and punch at the wall in the fruitless hope that it might collapse. After what felt like hours, with bloodied hands and a tired heart, she finally gave up, slumping to the muddy floor in defeat. She let herself rest for a while, before getting back up again and trying to take a more reasonable approach at taking down the wall. As much as she hated thinking about her stupid _wretch_ of a mother, she still tried to imagine what she would do in the same situation. She tried to look for weak points in the rocks, places on the verge of collapse that she might be able to push through or adjust in order to get out. But the search was in vain - after an hour of pushing and prodding at the boulders, both big and small, she had only managed to make more rocks tumble into the already small dip in the cliff-side, making her fear that she had triggered another rock-slide for a moment, before stopping just as abruptly as it had started.

And that, eventually, led to her wailing at the top of her lungs in the hope that someone - _anyone -_ might just be in the area and happened to hear the cries of a small, innocent girl stuck in a hollow after a landslide. At first, she had had her own ideals - she imagined some idiotic but conveniently strong Viking bumbling through the woods who happens to hear her cries, and digs her out of the rocks. Her thanks would be a few cuts across the chest with her knife to assure there was nobody alive who ever saw her, and then she would be gone. But after the first half an hour of trying to make her voice sound like the pinnacle of damsels in distress, her relatively calm requests for assistance quickly became sobbing, desperate calls for help. It could be Bjarke for all she cared - she just wanted _out._

Licking her lips, Syl slumped down against the wall for the third time that day - she was done. Her mother was right - she really _was_ a failure. She had never succeeded in her so-called " _missions"._ She had never tried to make friends, only tricking the kids in her village to be testers for the traps she tried to design in the woods, which _never_ worked, and got her into trouble all too often. If only her brother could see her then, he would probably say that-

A sudden rumble and resonating _THUMP_ from the outside shook her out of her thoughts, and for a moment she was terrified that her yelling had somehow triggered another landslide, something she _really_ did not want to deal with right then. But she knew it couldn't have been - if it was, it would last at least a few seconds, which whatever was outside _hadn't._ For a moment, she considered the thought that it might have just been another boulder tumbling down the cliff, but somehow she knew that wasn't true, either.

Then she heard a voice.

All of her worries seemed to melt away, as she leaned against the rock and tried to listen closer, something in her mind telling her that she should recognize the voice, and that she should be very, very worried, for some reason. Instead, she ignored it, letting the bliss of the sound of another human being's voice fill her ears like sweet chocolate.

"Hello? Is someone in there?" The voice was muffled through the stone and dirt, but the words were clear enough to understand.

"Yes, yes! I'm here! Please, get me out of…"

And suddenly she realized where she had heard that voice before.

 _Oh, GODS…_ She groaned the most tired groan she could muster. _Please, anyone,_ she prayed to all the Gods she had been taught to worship from a young age. _Anyone but HIM._

"Hang on," the nasally voice of the dragon conqueror seeped through the wall once again, more anxious this time. "I'll get you out of there in no time!"


	6. The Idea

**If Ruffnut doesn't say "You Know Nothing" to Eret at the beginning of How to Train Your Dragon 3, I'm going to be severely disappointed.**

 **So, first off, yes - this chapter is incredibly late. But it is also incredibly LONG. That's right, at a total of over 13 thousand, 9 hundred words, this is the longest chapter I've written yet. I've been waiting to write this for weeks, and so when my last deadline came and it wasn't on time, I panicked and decided to 'extend' my time limit to another week. I am very sorry, but I believe I've made up for it, as well. Thanks to all of you that followed and favorited the story over the last few weeks, and a special thanks to those of you who commented - you keep this story going. Anyways, I wanted to say a lot more about this chapter, given that it's likely one of the most important yet, but instead I'm just going to say that I hope you enjoy this story as much as I love writing it. Kind of like that child you have that's a bit of a brat, but you really love anyways, because you can't wait to see what they're going to grow into. Me and my weird analogies.**

 **Be sure to review and comment!**

 **How to Train Your Dragon is property of Dreamworks Animation SKG, Inc.**

* * *

Once Hiccup left, it took only the better half of two minutes for Astrid to experience her next crisis.

Toothless had wandered off into the woods for a moment on the premise that he needed to go find something before he asked her whatever he was going to ask her about, and that was when it happened.

" _TOOTHLESS!"_ She sent the message out in the direction she had seen him coming from, hoping that he was still close enough to hear it. Sure enough, moments later, the Night Fury came bursting out of the forest, crushing several small trees under his feet as he ran over to her.

His thoughts were panicky and garbled, and she was only able to make out a few clear thoughts in the midst of his random, worried projection. " _Astrid! What's wrong?! Are you hurt? Did someone attack you? Did someone attack Hiccup?!"_

" _Toothless…"_ Her eyes bulged, and she felt as though her world was falling apart around her, this new development only a small part in the hundreds of occurrences soon to come into play. " _Toothless, I…"_ She slowly turned around to look at him, her face worrisome and her mouth agape. " _WHERE DID MY TEETH GO?!"_ She asked frantically.

The Night Fury stared at her for a moment, catching his breath. " _Your…"_ He stared into her terrified eyes for a moment, before they moved down to her mouth, which was devoid of all the pearly whites she was used to, only the pink gums and her tongue visible. After a moment, taking his time doing so, he proceeded to close his own mouth, sit down on his haunches, and quite unsympathetically burst out laughing. He fell down on the ground after a moment, letting out his average, deep-throated laugh combined with a hearty, all-too Hiccup-like one sent out to Astrid's mind. She did not join in.

" _Toothless!"_ She tried to make the thought sound as much like a yell as she could, but it didn't seem to work, given that he continued to roll around on the ground laughing like a child. " _This is not a JOKE! I was just sitting here, thinking about… Well, I don't know! And suddenly they just slid up into my mouth! How… How does that happen?! Why do they even do that?!"_

After a moment, the dragon's laughing died down enough for him to send a message across, and he grinned at her stupidly.

" _I don't know, Astrid," -_ he slid his teeth in and out of his mouth several times, mockingly, " _Why DO they do that?"_

" _This isn't funny!"_

She spread her lips a bit wider, and tried to bare her teeth at him as she had done plenty of times in the past, only to feel her tongue flop uselessly out of her mouth and hang there, stupidly. When Toothless saw this, his laughing fit returned twice as strong, but this time she at least gave him a moment to recover, glaring at him the whole time.

" _I'm… Sorry, Astrid. But you have to admit, that is really… What do you say? Funny. If my kin in the old nest could see you…"_ He shook his head, still chuckling to himself, before trying to become more serious.

She looked up at him, her glare turning more into fear. " _How do I… Make them come back?"_

He thought for a moment. " _You don't feel any control over them?"_ He asked.

She pulled her tongue back into her mouth, then shook her head and turned away from him, not meeting his gaze.

He narrowed his eyes. " _You can, can't you? But you just don't want to, because it's too different. You're fighting it."_

She didn't look back at him.

He sighed. " _Astrid. I think I should tell you why I think you were able to run across the beach earlier, but can't now."_ He walked a few feet away, before adding, " _And before I do, I need you to promise me that you won't run away when I tell you."_

She narrowed her eyes at him.

" _Toothless, if this is-"_

" _Just... Trust me, Astrid. I need to show you."_

After a moment, she nodded, but still remained wary, ready to run OR attack if the situation required her to.

" _I need you to say it, Astrid."_

She raised her head up, letting her inner pride shine through. " _I… Promise that I won't run away. On my honor as a warrior, and as your friend."_

He seemed surprised for a moment, as if he hadn't expected her to respond that way, but he still nodded back and breathed out a huff of air through his nose that glistened like steam for a moment in the cold, early-autumn air, which dissipated not a moment later. Astrid didn't feel cold at all - likely the result of one of her newfound abilities. She would take three winters of freezing ice and snow just to get out of the mess she was in, though.

" _Instinct,"_ He began, startling her some. " _That's what you call it, right? When there's something you don't really have control over, that's just part of how your body works?"_

She nodded slowly, narrowing her eyes at him again. " _Yeah, that's right… Toothless... where are you going with this?"_

He didn't look at her. " _Well, my kin and I obviously have… Instincts, too. And I think that when you woke up this morning, when you ran out of the cave and jumped on top of me," -_ She cringed as he said it - " _I think you were just going by instinct… Dragon instinct."_

She stared at him, the meaning of his words dawning on her. Her next message came out shaky, weak. " _T-Toothless… You're not saying that I'm... Becoming-"_

" _Now, just listen to what I'm saying,"_ He replied quickly. " _It's not like you think. I… I don't think you're just… Turning into one of us, like that. If you were, I don't think it would be that quick, anyways. So, here's what I believe is happening,"_ His thoughts were as reassuring and comforting as they could be, but she still felt on edge, unstable - ready to run at any moment.

" _Like I said,"_ he continued, " _I've seen you in battle plenty of times in the past, many of those times alongside Hiccup. Up until he shot me down, I did not think that humans were this way as we are, but as I learned more about him, I realized that we are more alike than I thought. Than any of us thought. "_ He extended a talon out of his right front foot, then slowly brought it up to his face and examined it. " _The Queen once told us that when in battle, the Gods will sometimes take over our bodies to prevent us from dooming ourselves, for they are better in skill and combat than we will ever be. I didn't believe her at first, before I began participating in the… Raids, as you call them. Up until then, I didn't think that the Gods could have such a direct impact on our lives. One day, the Queen declared that my training was complete. She sent me out to a nest far from here, and then it just… Happened. It seemed so quick and sudden that I didn't realize it had happened until it was over. My purpose was to take down the tall spires - towers, as you call them - in your nest. But once I did that, I wasn't sure what to do, so I landed on the ground a few feet away, thinking I would be safe there._

" _Well, a human ran towards me out of nowhere, swinging his axe. I didn't know what to do, and for a moment I thought that that was it, that it would all end there. But then all of a sudden it was like my body took over. Then, I…"_ He cast his eyes downward, ashamed, and his thought trailed off. After a moment, he looked back up at her. " _The point is, I've seen you and Hiccup do the same thing, in different ways. I've seen you both throw yourselves in front of each other - in front of me and Stormfly - just to protect us, to keep us safe. There's no excuse you can make for that - it's crazy and you know it'll probably get you killed, but you still do it."_

" _I'm not dead yet…"_ Astrid murmured back. The Night Fury sighed.

" _But you could be. In battle, too, it's like you're a whole different being. You turn into a fierce warrior, an invincible leader who could convince anyone to fight by your side. And the ground-fighting I've seen you do - it's too fast. There's no way that you think about every move, every jump, punch, and swing of your axe before you do it. It's an incredible honor for one of the blood to be able to achieve that, and, well, that's what I think has happened to you."_ He paused for a moment, then continued, " _I don't think that you're just turning into a dragon. I think that your instincts as a human in battle have simply been… Translated, over to your new body. When you woke up, your instinct was to run, and though I'm not sure why, your body simply obeyed your commands, without you even thinking about it. But here, when you aren't scared or angry anymore, you focus too much on walking, on what's happened to you. So... I don't think you're turning into one of us. You're just… Adapting."_

Astrid sat for a moment, pondering his words and marveling at all she had learned about dragon's culture in the few hours she had been talking to one. She knew that Hiccup would want her to tell him everything when he turned her back - when he came back from the trap site, even - but she doubted that she could even remember everything he had told her about - memory had never been her strong point. She wasn't all that interested in it, either. At least, not as much as Hiccup would be. She had never quite had the urge to push questions that he had, but she had some things she wanted to clear up with the dragon, anyways. Besides… If he _were_ there, Hiccup would want her to find out as much as she could about Toothless.

" _Adrenaline."_

" _What?"_

" _Adrenaline,"_ She replied. " _I think that's what you're talking about."_

She sat there and thought for a moment, then continued, " _It's something that we all have - every creature, according to Hiccup. I don't know a lot about it, but apparently it's something that happens to us when we're under a lot of stress - that fighting or flying thing you were talking about earlier. It gives us extra power to do things that we usually can't, and kind of… Pushes us, to make a decision. I get what you're saying, and I'd like to believe you, but the other stuff - the stuff like what happened when Hiccup and I… Bonded - that…"_ \- she shook her head - " _That just isn't normal. I don't know what's going on, whether it's the Gods or a witch or some other dark magic at play… But there's something else here. Something... magical,. I mean, look what happened to me - this doesn't exactly happen every day. You don't know, or at least you're telling me that, and Hiccup doesn't seem to either. It's just… Too much to deal with right now. I just… I just want to go home."_ She felt ready to cry again, but knew from past experience that she probably couldn't even if she wanted to. It was something she'd never thought about before, something that, for once, she pitied dragons for - they couldn't cry.

" _Thanks for that, Toothless,"_ She looked down at the ground. " _I… I guess that helps some. I needed it. I just hope that you're right."_

She looked back up, and saw that he was staring at her.

Toothless's eyes were unreadable, and his gaze was more pointed at her than it was directed, as he pondered the new word she had taught him. After a moment, he narrowed his eyes at her, suddenly in focus, and startled her.

" _Though maybe I'm wrong. Maybe you ARE just turning into a dragon without even realizing it. Honestly, I think I'M the victim here. I never liked you, not since I met you and you tried to attack me, and ESPECIALLY not considering that YOU'RE the one that makes Hiccup's life miserable every day. Really, all of the options in this world and they stick me with YOU as a mate? A weak, little human hatchling turned into something much more noble than she'll ever be able to live up to? Pathetic. Embarrassing, really. You're not even an attractive dragon - I've seen thousand-moon gronckles more appealing than you. I guess that's just my luck, tho-"_

He never got to finish the thought. Astrid leapt on top of him, kicking and screaming curses in dragon-tongue, but this time he was ready. As soon as she was on his back, he reared his head and upper body as far as he could, sending her flying into the ground, shoving dirt into her mouth. He started to chuckle, but a moment later she had recovered, her body already adapting to the new fighting technique. After lifting herself back up, she swiveled back around, trying to flip her hair out of her face and reach for her axe, before remembering that she had neither. Nevertheless, she hissed and charged straight at him. He grinned in response. Her wings folded neatly onto her back, but she didn't notice. This time, he reared up his front paws just before she got to him, and so she locked onto them with her own talons as she jumped, locking them together and sending them rolling over each other a few times before coming to a stop, with Astrid glowering down menacingly at the no longer amused and now slightly frightened Toothless. Grunting, she brought her hind feet down to the ground, and wrestled her own talons out of his, bringing them out to sink into the soft dirt on either side of his head. She sneered at him, and growled, " _How DARE you! I swear to THOR your cold, lifeless heart will be roasted on a stick and eaten in Asgard for saying that! I should have known never to trust a dragon - especially not a Night Fury that can talk to me! I swear you are TEN TIMES WORSE than Hiccup! Gods, you haven't been any good for him at all! But that stuff about me? As your MATE?! You're not that… Feral. You're not that LOW. You care about me, don't you? I can tell! You don't mean ANY of that - and you and I know it."_

" _Maybe not,"_ Toothless replied, as a sly grin crept onto his face, " _But it got your teeth back out."_

* * *

Syl rarely prayed.

She had always thought the action was, quite frankly, stupid. She believed in the Gods, of course - there was proof of their existence - she had seen it with her own eyes, and if they weren't there, then what else was? Yet still, ever since she was little she believed that they would never want to help her, that she was under some terrible curse to never have anyone she could trust - and thus far, it had proven to be true.

But it wasn't only that - when she was younger - much younger - and her brother was still alive, he taught her to believe in the Gods more than anyone else in her village. He told her that they were always watching her, protecting her, and that they would one day save her, and then she would understand why he prayed to them. But she knew she would never need convincing from anyone but him. Every night, just before she fell asleep, her brother would tell her stories of Thor and Odin and Freya and Loki, of all of their great battles, their victories and defeats. He would make her feel safe, each and every night - and no matter how powerful or caring he made them sound, she knew no one could have as much love for her as her brother. Then, the next morning, she would run into the town and retell all of the other kids her age the stories she had heard from her brother, but they would mock her, telling her that those were baby's stories that they had heard hundreds of times in the past. But she didn't care - her brother always told them in a way that brought her to another world, to a place where there were no rules, where there was plenty of food, homes without falling-in ceilings or collapsing beams, and no nightly beatings or tantrums from her father… He made her love the Gods without force, without hatred, and she worshiped them and prayed to them each and every day, just before the sun went down. Until one day…

It had been just before sunset when it started. She had been out behind the house, drawing on some rolls of paper she had gotten for Snoggletog the year before, and watching the sun dye the water orange as it fell beyond the horizon. Most of the girls her age were drawing flowers or cutting them into the shapes of snowflakes, and the boys, well, the boys were never interested in drawing - by that age most of them were already getting into fights with one another, some of them even getting basic training from their parents. She knew that other Tribes tended to wait until their children were older to start training them, but her village was one of the smallest in the archipelago, and so most of the parents would stick an axe in their child's hands as soon as they could walk. Syl was an exception.

Sitting in front of her was a detailed map of the village, with three new squares placed strategically on the east, North and south-west ends of the village. Each represented a new raid tower that could be built for the village, made of rocks chiseled into bricks that would be incredibly difficult to dismantle, could take a beating from even the most direct dragon fire, and would hold up long enough to last at least several years - much longer than the temporary ones that they had built in the past. If constructed, she knew they would greatly help the few archers and crossbowmen the Village had, and thought they could likely turn the entire course of their war against the dragons.

When her brother had found out, rather than telling her to stop, and use the paper for something more useful like her parents might've done, he had encouraged her, and helped her map the village out every day after he got back from the village. They were planning on presenting it to the Chief, her father, that night. She had turned five years old just a week before.

The horn was the first thing she heard. It was a deep, ominous sound that always sent Syl's heart to the pit of her stomach. For hundreds of years, the horn had been the primary way of signaling a raid in the village, as it could be heard throughout the entire town, and well into the forest as well. When they heard it, all able-bodied Vikings were expected to drop whatever they were doing to take up an axe or sword and join in the fight.

She knew all too well what to do when _she_ heard it. Quickly gathering up her papers, she had run back into the house behind her, seeing her brother run out the front with a sword in hand, throwing on his helmet as he left. He'd placed second in Dragon Training, his graduation just a year before. For that reason, he was expected to fight, though he oftentimes acted as though he didn't care for violence as much as he did writing or reading. His parents let him practice these arts, but their true pride in him was in his prowess on the battlefield. It was the one thing her father had admired about him.

For a moment, she watched him and a few others, children and adults alike, run into the then-burning village - some of them grabbing buckets of water from doorsteps along the way - before stepping inside the house.

The Village did not have a Great Hall, or any official houses of authority, to be truthful. Despite her father being the Chief, it meant little besides the fact that he served as head Diplomat on trips to other Tribe meetings, which rarely went well, anyways. Therefore, her house was just as unstable and precariously built as any of the others on the island, if not more so. Her father had never made any attempt to rebuild it, as it was far away enough from the rest of the Village that it survived most of the fire from the raids. If it ever did catch fire, however, Syl was the one responsible for running to the cove just below the village to fill up some buckets with water and back up to the house to put them out. She had learned from an early age how angry her father would be if he came home after a raid to find the roof still on fire, and the negative repercussions on her, as well. As hard as she tried, the house still had a plethora of dents and holes in it's roof, many of them her fault. Nonetheless, it was her home, and she loved it.

Hiding was the worst part. She would always run into the lowest part of the house, which was just the ground floor, and stay there with her hands over her head for however long the raid was - sometimes it was over in less than an hour, sometimes it took an entire night and day. Every time, she would start there, hiding next to the fireplace, until she slowly worked up the courage to go to the window and watch. This time was like a raid no one had ever seen before.

The sky itself seemed to be lit on fire, a smoky red and green-mixed haze concealing the dramatic battle she could hear raging in the town all the way from her house. She remembered seeing explosions here and there throughout the village, each seeming larger than the last. With each one she winced and wondered, _Could that be my family?_ _Could that be my mother or brother dying in the streets out there, while I sit here in this house, useless?_ But her young mind told her that they were like Gods, invincible, and would never be slain or even harmed in battle. Alas, it was not to be.

Only her mother came back that night. She remembered running out to greet her and the rest of the family, as she had after every raid before then, only to find her mother standing there, tired and afraid, her axe barely grasped in her fingers. Syl didn't understand - they always came back after a raid. Sometimes her father and mother would seem happy, if only for a moment - they came back laughing about their victories and asking each other about kills, and for those few moments, seemed truly happy. Her brother would walk up just behind them, blood splattered on his sword, and Syl would tell him that he must have fought like a warrior from the old stories, and he would reply that she would be one too, someday. Truthfully, she didn't want to fight dragons, but she never told him that.

This time, however, there was no father, and no sign of her brother, either. Timid and confused, she had asked her mother where they were and, tearing up, something she had never seen her mother do, she told Syl that her brother, along with a few others, had gone missing during the battle, and her father had organized a search party to find him, as nobody had seen him being carried off after the dragons left, though it was still a possibility.

This left Syl even more confused. Her brother? Missing? That couldn't be possible. He was a mighty warrior, like in the stories she had read. How could he be gone?

She asked her mother, but she told her that was all she had. Two hours later, her father returned home, still with no sign of her brother. He told them that Bjarke was continuing the search in the woods, but the town had much larger problems to deal with - it had been the most deadly raid they had seen in months. He told her to get to bed, not even asking about the integrity of the house. Reluctantly, she complied. The next morning she woke up to the door slamming shut downstairs. After getting dressed, she had run to town as fast as she could, seeing a crowd in the Village center. When she got there, she was greeted by a solemn sight, but not an uncommon one. A large, white sheet was draped over a small but strongly-developed body on a cot in the center of the square, concealing its features. Resting atop it was a horned helmet. She didn't have to ask. She already knew that helmet's shapes and dents, and its owner - she would recognize it anywhere.

The last sight she had seen before she ran back to her house and hid in the loft, was her father staring back at her, just as much so in tears as she was.

The Gods would never mean anything to her ever again, for they never meant to help her in the first place.

So as she sat there worrying, in the stupid, dimly-lit hole the dragon conqueror was slowly digging her out of, she prayed to the Gods for the first time in many years. Prayed that she could somehow find a way out of that predicament, prayed that she wouldn't be taken captive, and that perhaps her mother would be willing to forgive her and take her back, even after all of the things she had done.

She also made a decision. After a long night of arguing with herself, she had finally come to the conclusion that her brother, her ignorant, sweet brother, wasn't to blame for leaving her. He was stupid, sure, and completely and totally annoying at times, but she loved him more than anything else in the world, and always would. Despite all of the scenarios she imagined, the ways she might've been able to help, there was probably no way that he could have avoided what happened... Or at least that's what she told herself. Fate, she had decided, was a very strange and incredibly useless thing. Maybe, just maybe, her brother was always meant to die that night - after all, he was the one who had always said that the Gods knew where they wanted people to go in life, but only humans got to choose the path we took to get there. She didn't want to believe it, and yet it somehow made it easier for her to handle.

The boy's voice was muffled, but still understandable through the rocks. Every now and then a sentence would be cut off by the sound of a rock thudding onto the ground, and the whole wall would shiver, shaking dust down onto the floor, and making Syl fear that the whole wall would collapse on top of her. Luckily, it didn't, and the dragon conqueror kept murmuring reassuring words to her as he worked. "Isn't it a miracle that I found you? Honestly, I was just going to investigate this trap I found in the woods, because Astrid, wait, do you know Astrid? Ah, it doesn't matter. Anyways, my… Girlfriend, has become… Well, you wouldn't believe me, actually… Anyways, I think I can see a break here in the wall. It might collapse at any moment, so I need you to back away from the wall for me, okay? Can you even hear me?" She didn't respond.

A few minutes later, the mound of rocks shifted and one fell into the cave, sending a large shaft of light streaming directly onto Syl's face, and making her slink back even farther than she already was. Not only had the light burned her eyes, but she was afraid that he had been able to see it from outside. Of course, that wouldn't matter, would it? They had never met before, so he would have no idea who she was.

A moment later, a grinning face popped into the hole, haloed by the light around it, and spoke rather excitedly, "See? I told you! Just gimme a second more and you'll be out of here." Sure enough, the hole began to widen, eventually becoming big enough for her to crawl out of.

The idea popped into her mind her mind like a candle flickering to life. He didn't know who she was - that was her one advantage in the situation, but it opened up a whole list of possibilities. Of course, she couldn't pretend to be anyone from his village - it was likely that he already knew everyone his age there. She could pose as a merchant's or fisher's daughter, but that still wouldn't explain why she was stuck in a cave miles away from the ocean.  
"Stormfly, a little light?" The boy - Hiccup, she remembered - was talking to someone outside. A moment later, there was a flash of light outside, followed by a yelp. "Ow! Why would you _do_ that?! I said a little! Though… You are a dragon, so, I guess I could've thought that through a _bit_ more…"

She groaned - if he was with a dragon, _especially_ that Night Fury, there was no way that she would be able to get out of there alive - she had seen that thing fly before.

Then she came to another realization - If the Dragon Conqueror was there, _alive,_ and knew about that trap, that meant that not only had she been disowned by her mother… But she had been right to do so. She had truly never accomplished anything in life. Her soul quest to kill the Dragon Conqueror had failed. And now, here he was, likely only rescuing her in order to taunt her after finding out she was the one who set it.

Nonetheless, he didn't seem to be gloating just yet. After another moment passed, a torch was thrust into the small hole, illuminating the tiny room for the first time. For a moment, she had a glimmer of hope - he wouldn't recognize her, so he would probably just let her out, right? She would thank him and get him to leave, and then-

"Hey, wait a second," he peered at her through the now-large hole with a confused expression, then snapped his fingers as though suddenly remembering something. "I know you! From the diplomatic missions after the war. You're… Uh… Siri, right? No, no, that's not it," he shook his head quickly.

"Syl…" She muttered under her breath, but he still heard her.

"That's right! Syl, from the, uh... Veiklaðar… Tribe…" His eyes widened, then he slapped his forehead with his palm, groaning, as the realization hit him like a brick. "I… Am the worst idiot to ever live on this island." She stared at the ground and didn't respond. So maybe he hadn't known. Either way, he knew who she was, and he was going to take her in, away from the now safe-seeming cavern. She had failed her mother, herself, and most importantly, her brother.

He narrowed his eyes at her. "But… That makes no sense. You're an heir to your tribe - why would she send you? You must be _invaluable_ to them. Why would your mother put you at risk?" For a moment, she considered telling him. After all, she knew she was going to be taken in and broken down for answers, anyways. Why not start then, get it over with?

But something inside her told her to stop. There was no use in telling him she had been exiled. She knew that their stupid tribe was probably above killing her, but even so, her value could still be key to staying alive. Would she be used as a ransom? Definitely. It would probably come as even more of a surprise for the Berk Chief to find out that her mother didn't want her back once she asked, but by then she would hopefully had bought enough time to figure something else out. She had been picking locks since her brother locked her out of the house as a joke when she was five - she could get out of any jail cell. The only problem would be the guards…

He gasped, and his eyes widened again. "Did you set that trap? I swear, if you're responsible for… Dear Gods, it doesn't even matter…" He shook his head, then raised his arms up peacefully a moment later. "Listen," he told her in a reassuring tone, "I'm not going to hurt you. I know who you are, and I know that you were spying on Astrid and I earlier. If you did set that trap, which you must have… I just… I need you _not_ to run away, okay? No matter what you think, I'm not going to turn you over to my Dad, or our village, alright? I… I know this sounds weird, but I need you to trust me." After a moment of thought, she nodded reluctantly, trying to act as scared as possible. "Okay…" He replied slowly, lowering his arms.

He held out a hand to help her out, and she took it. As soon as she had clambered out onto the ground, she shoved against him as hard as she could, then dashed off as quickly as she could into the forest, not even turning back to see. She caught a glimpse of something large and blue far behind him, which instinct told her was a nadder, but she didn't stop to check. The sudden light from the sun had initially blinded her, but her eyes had adjusted quickly, a small blessing for her. As she ran away, she briefly made out the sound of him muttering something ending in, "... Worse than Astrid," Which she assumed must have been about herself. She didn't care. She was free, she had gotten away from her captor, and that was all that mattered.

As fast as she was, she knew there was no way that she could run away from him forever, never mind a dragon, and so she made a sharp turn left a few hundred feet into the forest she had ducked into, diving into a few comfortably green and thick bushes that blended in with her clothes. As soon as she did, she dropped to her knees and waited there quietly, praying that he hadn't seen where she went.

A minute later, she felt her nerves tense as she heard him crunching through the leaves and vines, cursing as he approached her hiding spot. Luckily, she didn't think he saw her, but he spoke out anyways.

"I know you're still here! You're not going to gain anything from staying here, you know." She held as still as she possibly could. He sighed. "Listen… I'm going to be honest with you… If you did set that trap, I'm... really not going to take you back to the village, because I _can't_. They're going to lock you up in the ring and put guards on patrol to make sure nobody gets in OR out, I'm sure you know that already. I… I just need to know what you did. As much as I hate you right now for what you did to Astrid, I need to know how to change her back, then you can leave. I never want to see you again. I just… I just want everything to go back to normal. Just as much as I'm sure you do, too, no matter why you're here." His voice sounded almost shaky towards the end, but she had no idea why. After he finished, he paused for a moment. The dragon he was with seemed to have stayed back near the cliff wall, for some reason, which relieved her slightly. Although, it was possible he had told it to stay there, in order to lure her out and capture her. Still… She couldn't help but wonder if he was telling the truth…

Still, she didn't say anything. "Listen," he told her, "You… You can stay out here if you want. Maybe your purpose is complete, or something, and you just want to go back to your mother to tell her everything you learned about our defenses, our warriors, our… Dragons…" His voice trailed off, but she kept listening, oddly intrigued. She realized that he was telling the truth - but why would he just let her go like that? And what the _hell_ was he talking about with her "mission succeeding", and all? He was _living proof_ that she had failed. Of course, he might not have known about her true intentions…

Yet still, she didn't dare to move or talk and give away her hiding spot. She waited for him to continue, and he did. "You know… You kind of owe me this. I mean, come on, I just saved your life after you… You changed her into… Anyways, _especially_ given how much you've screwed up Astrid's life already - which I have a feeling you did, since you're not responding - I think you should at least _tell me_ what the hell you used, whatever… Witchcraft or sorcery it was, if not how to… _Fix_ her. I just…" He sighed again.

She considered his request carefully. From what she could gather, his girlfriend - that 'Astrid' girl, she presumed - had accidentally set off the trap, which by all means should have killed her. But, obviously, it hadn't. This meant that, not only had she failed to get the dragon conqueror to notice it - but the trap was faulty, as well - it _hadn't worked._ Even if 'Hiccup' had found the trap, even if she hadn't been exiled to an enemy island and gotten herself trapped under a landslide, she _still_ would have failed, without even knowing it. If she could have just talked to her mother one last time, then maybe, just maybe, she would have been given another chance.

Something in the very back of her mind told her that this was fate working again. Could it be a mere coincidence that she had been stuck here, failed to kill the dragon conqueror, had been _rescued_ by him, and now wanted her _help?!_ It didn't seem likely. Maybe… She was meant to work with the enemy, just this once, to take revenge on her mother for casting her out all of her life. Maybe it was the Gods themselves, guiding her down the path they thought was best, for once. Maybe it was her brother, looking down from the great feast above…

But that's not what she chose to believe. Instead, she made it her sole purpose to complete her mission. No matter what, it was her goal. When the time was nigh, she would take him out, end it once and for all. So what if there hadn't been any dragon raids since he made 'peace' with them? That hadn't helped her _at all_.

Before the raids ended, she had been able to get away with anything. With her mother acting as Chief in the village, Syl had gone unnoticed, stealing whatever small and light valuables she could find from the unlocked, unattended houses during the raids, stashing them under the floorboards of her house. Originally, she had hated herself for doing it, knowing she was shaming her brother, but it oftentimes helped her to get extra food during the raids. Their island had never had a surplus of food, as it had few enough livestock and no fields with soft enough soil to grow crops in. She knew her brother would be ashamed, and an image of him, the last time she had seen him before that night, appeared inside her mind every time she did it. Eventually, though, she learned to ignore him, to focus on the task at hand, as hard as it may have been.

However, when the raids suddenly ended, she was expected to _do_ things, to get a job as an apprentice in the village, and learn to support and pitch in to the village - true Viking morals. She rebelled and did none of it.

Instead, she continued to lie and steal and cause trouble in the town, but started getting caught more and more often, her "bad habits" suddenly being labeled as "crimes", until her mother had to sit her down one night after she stole Bjarke's lucky mace whilst he was working in town, and tell her that she needed to stop. She didn't, and that led to her mother sending her on the false quest she was stuck in.

So as soon as she got the chance, she would _murder_ this so-called "Dragon Conqueror," as justice for making her suffer for those past few years. Until then…

"So what's wrong with your 'girlfriend'?" She stood up from the bushes as she spoke, revealing her hiding place. His head whipped around, and his expression dropped into one of near complete despair. "You mean… You don't know?"

* * *

" _Alright, Toothless two, get off of me, I need to show you-"_

" _Do NOT call me Toothless two!"_

" _OW! Fine, I'll think of something else, just get off me, please!"_ Reluctantly, she clambered off of the Night Fury, feeling her claws slide back into her feet somewhat. She relaxed her leg muscles some, and stepped back to give the Night Fury room to get up. Once he did, he started walking into the forest again, stopping a moment later when Astrid didn't follow.

" _Toothless… I can't move,"_ She called out desperately to him.

He looked back at her and raised an eyebrow. " _You just proved to me that you could."_

" _Well, that was DIFFERENT. I… Wasn't thinking then."_

" _Then don't think about it now!"_

" _I can't do that! Thinking about it is the only thing keeping me human!"_

" _Human?! Astrid, you're in the body of one of the blood, now! A dragon! I can understand that you don't want to lose yourself, but you can't just fight everything that's happened to you! That means that you're going to walk, whether you like it or NOT!"_ His last word was projected forcefully into her mind, and was accompanied by a deep, throaty growl that sent shivers down her wings.

After a moment, she quietly asked, " _But… What if Hiccup comes back while we're gone?"_  
His expression softened, and he sighed. " _Believe me, Astrid, I want to be away from Hiccup as little if not even less than you do. But we're just going into the forest a few steps, okay? We'll be right back, I promise. Just… Let me show you. Please, Astrid."_ He stared at her pleadingly.

She waited there in silence for a moment, and didn't look up. Then, after chastising herself for acting so weak, she rose her head up high, huffed out through her nose, and nodded. Toothless purred in response, then turned and started to walk away. After a moment, her eyes grew wide, and she called out after him, " _Wait! How do I walk?!"_

" _Don't think about it!"_ He replied, before suddenly vanishing into the forest and exiting her mind, his red tailfin flicking once before disappearing behind a tree.

" _But I'm a…"_ She began, then stopped.

And for the first time that day, she admitted that he was right. Terrible as the creature she had been transformed into was, she knew that if she never even _moved,_ she would hate herself after she turned back. She would be a burden to Hiccup _and_ Toothless, and would never be able to live with herself knowing that she had ignored the situation whilst Hiccup scrambled to find a cure in the village. And how was she supposed to defend herself if she didn't even know how to walk? She certainly wasn't learning to breath fire...

She looked at her feet. Despite her revelation, she couldn't bear the thought of suddenly walking like a dragon, though she knew it was necessary, not only to follow Toothless, but likely to fix the entire situation as well. Closing her eyes and letting out a deep breath, she took the dragon's advice, and tried not to think about walking. She took a step forward with her front right… Paw, hesitantly. She couldn't help but find it stupidly ironic - her entire life, moving and fighting had come naturally to her. Since she was young, her mind had always been in perfect sync with her body, her commanding it to do something, and it simply following. They were simply one functioning structure. Until then, she had never even considered them to be separate. And now, as a dragon, she couldn't even take one step unless she was acting on instincts.

Instinct…

She tried to remember what it was like to walk as a human, which was alarmingly more difficult than she thought it would be. She realized that she hadn't ever _thought_ about _how_ her body moved - it was always either the direction or the result that she commanded. As much as she hated it, the instinct that Toothless had explained was the same as it had been when she was human, it was simply… Translated over, as he had put it.

So instead of telling her feet to take steps, she simply commanded her body to move forward, looking straight ahead at the forest, rather than down at her feet. She closed her eyes as she felt her body move forward, expecting to trip over herself or run sideways into a tree. But when she opened them, she found herself moved a few feet ahead, exactly where she had wanted to go. She grinned and kept moving ahead, feeling her legs move under her, but pretending it was natural - before realizing that she didn't have to. It was natural. Almost _too_ natural…

" _Great!"_ Toothless's voice in her mind again startled her, and she nearly fell over, before letting her legs catch her, forcing herself to let her instincts take over. When she recovered, he stepped out from behind some shaded thorns a few feet away. She smiled haughtily at him. " _I just told myself to walk, and I did!"_ She leaped forward towards him, her wings fanning out slightly, and feeling a hearty satisfaction as his eyes widened when she landed nearly nose-to-nose with him. She smirked. " _How's that for a newly-turned dragon girl?"_

He smiled back at her. " _Not bad, though your wings are still out."_

Her smirk dropped, and she quickly asked, " _Fine. What is it that you wanted to show me?"_

He turned around, and replied, " _Just follow me."_ She complied.

They trotted through the forest for a moment, her feet oozing in the mud created by the storm the night before. The dense trees above her had helped keep the ground dry for the morning, but they were slowly beginning to drop their payload on top of her and Toothless, and she couldn't help but shiver every time one of them landed on her wings - which were still extended from when she had nearly jumped on top of Toothless a few moments before - and dragged through the leaves.

A few bends in the forest later, Toothless suddenly cried out, frightening Astrid for a moment before she realized he seemed to be happy about something. " _Aha!"_ He began. " _I almost thought I'd lost it."_

Stepping aside, he revealed a small brook happily gurgling through the forest, removed from the outside world. The section of it they were looking at was several feet across to the other bank, and was far away from rocks that it offered a wide, flat surface, clear enough to see… _Oh, Gods,_ She thought to herself.

He smiled back sheepishly at her. " _I'm not as vain as a Nadder, but I figured you might at least like to see…"_ He looked back to see her frowning at him.

" _You're making it harder for me to believe that you're not trying to turn me full-dragon, you know?"_  
He rolled his eyes and told her, " _Astrid… I don't want you to turn fully into one of us - we've talked about this. So what if I've never seen or mated another one of… Me? You belong to Hiccup, and I respect that. Besides - who knows? This might be your only chance to see what you look like as a dragon before you change back."_

Her jaw dropped. " _I BELONG to Hiccup? Are you saying that you do want to… To take me as a mate, but the only reason you're not is because you_ respect _him and I?"_

" _What? No! I never said that! I was just using it as an ex-"_

" _Unbelievable. Never should have trusted a dragon."_ She huffed at him. They sat there for a moment, before he sighed, and pointed to the mirror-like water in front of him.

" _Do you want to see, or not? Come on, you must be at least a little curious."_

" _I'm not!"_ She replied. He raised an eyebrow.

" _Fine! But only because you seem to think I need to. Nothing else."_

She heard him sigh as she approached the water, and she tried to decide whether it was him or Hiccup that frustrated her more. It was only one of them that she loved - and that would never change. Ever.

She peered into the calm water, and saw a huge face staring back at her.

Her face was more or less what she had remembered seeing from the puddle the night before - the same shape and look as Toothless, but with light gray scales, and a more angled snout than his. Her mouth spanned almost her entire face like his, as well, and her ears stuck up like tiny, leathery horns on top of her head, with a smaller pair of flaps in-between, for whatever reason. A small rim of tiny spikes also ran up the center of her nose. But perhaps the most terrifying part of it all was her eyes. Though her pupils were completely black, the outer part surrounding it - which was normally a blank white on her and frosty green on Toothless - had instead retained the lightning blue she had grown up to recognize, something she had never considered before. Lightning blue…

She shook her head after a moment, bringing herself out of her daze, and watched as the reflection did the same. Baffled, she turned the right side of her body to face the river, watching as a tail - HER tail - swished along with it, and flinching as the tip of her wing slowly dipped into the water, sending ripples out over the surface. She stared for a moment, then another. _Two years ago,_ she thought, _if I had seen this anywhere, my first thought would've been to take out my axe and kill it._ She pulled herself away from the image, and saw Toothless staring into the water as well, a worried expression on his face. It was too much.

Her heartbeat sped up, and she started to pant and gasp, something she _definitely_ was not used to. She began to back up into the forest again, her instincts telling her once again to run, to get as far away from that place as possible, like she had that morning. Toothless glanced up suddenly, likely noticing the fear in her eyes.

" _Astrid…"_

She jerked her head up to him, terrified. " _Toothless, what… What have I become? I… Every step I take I'm dishonoring my tribe, I mean, I'm talking to a dragon for Odin's sake! Like you're just an old friend, or something! A DRAGON!"_

" _Astrid, please-"_

" _No, you are NOT going to win me over with calm words here. I'm done listening to your stupid sweet talk - we need to be DOING something about this. No,_ I _need to be doing something about this. I don't want to be talking to a dragon. I don't want a tail or wings. I don't want any of this!"_

Toothless growled at her. " _Astrid, we ARE doing something about this! That's what I'm trying to do! I swear to the Gods I wish Hiccup had picked ANYONE else as a mate sometimes, but you know what? I've gotten used to you. I'm don't want that to change. I want everything to go back to the way it was as much as you do! But look at you! You're ranting about how much you want this to go back to normal, and yet you can't even look at your own reflection in the pond. Yes, you're a dragon! That's the point - you can still move, still talk, and do much more than you could as a human to help, and yet you sit here so determined to go back that you're trying to pretend it never happened, or something. I don't care if you like hearing this or not - you need to come to terms with what's happened to you, once and for all. I'm not asking you to be happy about it - until Hiccup fixes you, you NEED to… Cope, with this. You can't just sit around doing nothing."_

She was still shaking when he looked back up at her. " _Toothless, I… How am I supposed to help when everything makes me want to run away into the forest, to run away from Hiccup, the village and Stormfly, my parents… And you?"_

Toothless sighed, and his entire body seemed to sag some as his muscles relaxed. He laid down on the ground, and looked up at her. " _Alright, Astrid. Why don't we just take it one change at a time? Would that make it easier for you?"_

She thought about if for a moment, then decided to give it a chance. She nodded.

" _Great,"_ he said cumbersomely, " _So what's first?"_

She thought about it. In a certain light, it was impossible to narrow it down to _one thing_ , as everything that had happened in the past day had more or less been the result of one event, but she had to try. " _Alright…"_ She began, shaking her head quickly. " _I… Am talking to a dragon. To Hiccup's dragon Toothless. Wow."_ If someone had told her that the day before, she would have told them that they were probably dangerously sick and needed to go see Gothi or one of the town's healers to get a cure before they went completely mad in the head.

" _Well,"_ he replied, " _If it makes you feel any better, I've been able to understand you this whole time, and I've found ways to talk to you, too. Just think of it as being able to say more things to each other than we already could."_

She pondered his words, then realized something she hadn't considered before. " _Wait, so… Can all dragons understand human language? I mean, you use a lot of words for yourself that I've never heard of. Like, 'One of the blood'? Is that what you call other dragons? And can I talk to Stormfly, too? How does that work?"_

He frowned at her for a moment, then startled her as he suddenly growled something at her in his strange dragon-language. " _Could you understand that?"_ He asked.

" _Uh… No?"_ She replied. " _Am I supposed to?"_

" _No, I guess not."_

" _Then why the hell did you do that?"_

He sighed. " _Listen, Astrid. The way of talking that we're using IS strange, even for me. I haven't had to use it since the raids ended."_

She was surprised. " _Why not? Don't you talk this way to other dragons?"_

" _Well,"_ he began, " _yes and no. The way that we're talking to each other is… Formal, I guess you would say. The method we're using is something called the tala. You see, when we went on the… Raids, as you call them, I was assigned a commander of our corps, as I was a much higher station as a… Night Fury, as you call me, and I was always meant to be a leader of a corps. At least, that's what the Queen told us…"_

The dragon's eyes seemed foggy, and far off. After a moment, he shook it off and looked back at her. " _Anyways, I found out about this special ability that I, a Night Fury, had that nobody else did. I was able to… Talk, to other dragons through thoughts. When I first find out, I… I was terrified, I think. I had gotten in an argument with a gronckle who hadn't brought back enough food one day, and it got so heated that I eventually… Forced, a thought into his mind. He had started to panic, and I didn't know what was happening, but then… The Queen spoke in my mind. She calmed the Gronckle first, then told me that I had a gift, one much like her's that allowed me to project messages and thoughts into other's minds. I was so scared, I… I thought I had some kind of control over other's minds, and I was afraid I was going to hurt someone… But the queen reassured me. She told me she had been expecting this to happen, and that day she assigned me as commander of a tala…_

" _There was a feast that night, and I met those I would be commanding. It was so… Odd. So many of them had been my friends up until then, my companions, and all of a sudden they were bowing and wouldn't joke with me anymore… But I'm digressing. The point is, the speech allowed me to communicate with others across long distances in battle, without having to move my mouth. It was hugely helpful, but only I could send the messages - I never got a response, never received a message from anyone else... Until last night."_

" _So, like I said, this is a speech that we only used to use in combat, not for conversations like we're having right now. It's probably weirder for me than for you."_

 _I'd disagree…_ She thought to herself sarcastically. " _A moment ago, I asked you in the tongue what your name was. You didn't understand it, and since you can't speak it, either, I'd say that you couldn't REALLY talk to Stormfly that well. Though you might be able to send a message to her in your mind."_

She narrowed her eyes at him. " _And what makes you think I can't speak the dragon language?"_

His eyes widened. " _Actually,"_ he told her, " _that's a good point. Try saying 'hello' like you would as a human. Maybe that translated over, too!"_

Excitedly, she tried to say 'hello' as she would as a human, hearing it come out as a weird gargle. Toothless frowned.

" _Well,"_ he said quizically, " _You just told me to go eat a red bubble, so unless you did that on purpose, I don't think you can speak it."_

She slumped, and they both sat there in silence for a moment. " _Wait,"_ she started, " _Do you know how to speak Norse? I mean, wouldn't you normally be sending me messages in your dragon-language, then? And how did you learn how to understand it, anyways?"_

He shrugged. " _I've just always known it, I guess. Though I've learned a lot more from Hiccup. And as far as the message-thing goes… This is a first time for me, too. Like I said, I've never gone back-and-forth with anyone until now. Well, I guess with the queen, but that was… Different. Anyways, I think that's been translated as well. You think in your language, correct?"_ After a moment, she realized he was correct. She had never thought about it before, but she did _think_ in norse words - it was rarely pictures or places like she knew other people did. She nodded. His confused expression dissapeared, replaced by one of solution - something that Hiccup often did, as well.

" _And I think in the tongue. So when I send a message to you, it translates to your language, and when you send a message-"_

" _-you hear it in the tongue."_ She finished. " _Weird. So I must actually sound like a dragon to you, then."_

He shrugged. " _I've known this language almost my entire life. Honestly, it's kind of hard to tell the difference, with you."_

" _Don't say that!"_ She told him quickly. There was another small pause. " _So… If everything you're saying is being translated to me, why are you still trying to come up with words like you don't know them? Like, 'of the blood' and 'raid'? What's with that?"_

" _Well,"_ he replied _, "That's a little more complicated. See, we don't really have a word for us like you do. 'Dragon' is far too precise, too simple to encompass out race. So we say things like 'of the blood' to symbolize what we are as a species - for we are all of the same blood. 'Human' on the other hand, is easy enough to use. For a long time, we thought you were all the same - barbaric monsters who lived for their next kill. But Hiccup, he… He taught us differently. It's said among us oftentimes that he's more 'dragon' than he is human, and some even call him an honorary member of the blood, as he has brought us together like no one else has before."_

Astrid shook her head. " _Sorry, it's just… 'Of the Blood' sounds so_ weird, _like some kind of… Cult, or something. It's creepy."_

The confused expression reappeared on the dragon's face. " _What's a cult?"_

She frowned. " _Well, it's like a religious group that goes and sacrifices animals and stuff, and tries to get people to join them. They're very bad."_

" _Oh,"_ Toothless replied. " _Why are all of your words so terrible?"_

Astrid was baffled. " _Terrible? What do you mean?"_  
" _Well, in the day that I've known you, I've learned two words from you. One of them was what you called the… Hunts, we went on to your villages. And the second is about groups of humans that go around killing animals without even eating them. Don't you have any NICE words that we don't?"_  
" _Of course we do!"_ She barked. " _We have… Love, and honor, and compassion…"  
_ " _I know what those are!"_

" _You… You do?"_

" _Yes! Didn't you ever stop for a moment to think that maybe, just maybe, we're as civilized if not MORE SO than you stupid humans are?"_

" _Uh… Um…"_ She stuttered.

Toothless mouth dropped open, and he stared at her for a moment, astounded. Then he rolled his eyes as if to say " _Humans_ " and snapped, " _Fine. What's next?"_

" _What?"_

" _What's next? We're taking your transformation one step at a time, remember?"_

" _... Oh," she replied after a moment. "I guess the… Physical part of it…"_

He let out a deep breath. " _Right…"_

Slowly, she turned her head to look at herself, and shivered.

If looking at her reflection alone had given her chills, this made her blood run cold. She had seen Toothless plenty of times in the past, but it wasn't enough to prepare her with the sight her eyes were met with.

Her wings, obviously, were the dominating part of her sight. Gray and leathery, they were both terrifying and beautiful at the same time. They were gray, and scaly like the rest of her body, but the bones were visible through it, which was unsettling at best. She had seen Toothless's plenty of times before, and they were all too uncanny of a copy. Her body, she guessed, was a bit smaller than Toothless's, but still much larger than she would have preferred. Her back had tiny spikes running down it, which she knew were there to help control her flight. All four of her feet were near identical copies of each other, and were curved in slightly.

Perhaps the largest difference between her and Toothless was her tail. Where it met with her body were two tiny flaps that extended between her rear end and a few feet down her tail. Oddly, she had never noticed them on Toothless before. As it grew longer behind her it narrowed, and at the end were two mirrored tailfins, both a white-gray to match the rest of her body. Those, she knew from experience, were essential for flight as well.

She turned back to Toothless. He had a rather worried look on his face, likely expecting her to scream or panic like she already had several times that day. But she didn't do either. Instead, one odd, stupid thought pushed to the surface of her mind above all others.

" _Why gray?"_

There was a moment of silence. " _... What?"_ Toothless asked, suddenly losing his nervous demeanor and raising an eyebrow.

" _Why am I gray? I mean, you're black because you need to blend into the night, right? So what am I gray for? I mean, if you're going to turn a girl into a dragon, at least make her useful."_

" _Uh…"_ Toothless seemed speechless, as well. " _That… Is weird. For blending in with… Clouds, maybe?"_

She stared at him. " _That is one of the stupidest things I've ever heard."_

" _Well, do you have any better ideas?"_

" _I mean, no, but…"_ She trailed off. Toothless looked at her, still apprehensive. " _I'm surprised you're taking this so well. Are you okay?"_

" _Yeah, I'm… I'm fine. I guess I've just… Gotten over the initial shock. Though I swear to Thor if anyone else from the village sees me out here, I'm going to freak out again."_ She paused for a moment, then looked up at him. " _Toothless… Do you think I'm turning into more of a dragon?"_

Toothless smiled. " _Not at all. You're just… Adapting,"_ he decided. " _Come on, let's go back to the clearing."_

* * *

"Well, it could be a number of different things." Syl told Hiccup. "I need to see her before I can tell you if she can be cured or not."

He raised an eyebrow. "Okay… Well, let's go." He whistled to call Stormfly over.

People tended to tell Hiccup that he was too trusting in people. Maybe it was true, but he liked to think that, while people had betrayed him and looked down on him in the past, all people could also change. This girl was one of them. When he had seen her in that cave, huddling and afraid, he had seen… Something else, as well. Something that made him believe that maybe, just maybe, she wasn't there to kill him.

He was well aware that there were likely lots of people that wanted his and Toothless's heads on spikes, and that they would take great measures to make sure it happened. Luckily, the majority of them had failed. It wasn't the first time they had caught a spy on their island, after all. Many of them, of course, were just Vikings that tried to sail into the Harbor in the middle of the night, were immediately discovered by the patrol groups, and would end up groveling at the Chief's feet, begging for Mercy. Despite his brave and sometimes harsh reputation, Stoick was often kind enough to them, generally jailing them for a few years before sending them back to their villages. He understood that most of them had their own families to feed at home, and were likely only forced into spying on the well-known tribe. After all, it was known throughout the village that Berk was one of the most well-defended and well stocked villages in the archipelago, and very difficult to take by siege.

He remembered one night, when he had been fast asleep, having a very strange dream involving an ancient sorcerer and his apprentice, when suddenly he was shaken away by the sound of Toothless growling at the foot of his bed. When he told the dragon to go back to sleep, he had bounded down the stairs and blown the door of its hinges, pouncing on something just outside. After he woke up his father a few minutes later, they had found the Night Fury outside on top of a viking holding a small pin and a lockpick, his face a very pale white. It was the farthest anyone had ever gotten into the village. After some questioning a few nights later, they found out that the man had been walking on foot for three days from a small cove several miles away, where he had landed a small boat on a rocky beach. The cove happened to be near Thor's rock, a landmark boulder that was so large that a tree had grown off of the moss and soil on top of it, and had been struck by lightning years before Hiccup was born. Some in the village said it had been touched by Thor himself, and thus it was named.

After that night, Hiccup knew that Toothless stayed up for hours after he fell asleep to watch, and though he wished the dragon would get more sleep, he loved him for it.

But this girl… Somehow, she had found a way into the village unseen in _broad daylight_ , had overheard their plans, and had managed to evade capture by Astrid and Toothless for an _entire day_ before being caught under a landslide in one of the worst storms Berk had ever seen. This girl had to be, by any definition, a complete maniac.

The thing that truly baffled him was why she had chosen _not_ to run away when he had given her the opportunity. She had already proven that she could evade capture, and likely could have gotten away again, had she wanted to. So why didn't she? He doubted she had had a change of heart - as easy as that would make things, she seemed incredibly shady, and was the daughter of an _enemy tribe's leader,_ something that would set all of the warning bells off in any other Viking's head. But something had told him otherwise. Something had told him that right here, right now, he _needed_ her. For what, he didn't know. It was driven solely by gut instinct, something that had led him in the right direction enough times in the past that he was willing to follow it.

He remembered the last time he had seen her. A few months after the battle with the Green Death, Hiccup's father had set out on diplomatic missions to announce that the war between dragons and humans was over, and that tribes shouldn't attack any dragons that they see in the wilderness. Hiccup's purpose on these missions was to train and calm any of the dragons that were still locked up in the village kill rings, which oftentimes doubled as a demonstration of how they could be domesticated. Many tribes, to Hiccup's delight, received it well, and would oftentimes ask him to teach them individually. Other tribes… Not so much. The Veiklaðar tribe was one such.

Their meeting in particular had been a very harsh and likely unsuccessful one. The Chief of the tribe had died years before then, and Hiccup had heard his heir had as well, and so his wife, Brenna, had taken over in his stead. He vaguely remembered their ships approaching the gray, bleak island of the village to find only a single dock stretching into the water, its boards decaying and crumbling into the ocean. Though Hiccup knew there hadn't been and raids recently, it looked as though they had suffered one just the night before. Many of the houses were crumbling and sagging, if not completely burnt or destroyed beyond repair. The Chief's home itself had even seen better days, with many missing boards and nails, its beams barely holding it up over a cliff below that ran all the way down to the ocean. Sad was the best way to describe the miserable place.

Brenna had greeted their ships on the shore with distaste, asking why they were there, obviously wishing they weren't. When Stoick had described Hiccup's battle with the Green Death, she had only snorted and asked how a scrawny boy like him could have killed a monster of that size. When he had explained how, that he had trained a Night Fury and together they had killed it, her annoyance quickly diluted into something more vengeful. She had ordered them off of their island almost immediately, something that had happened already at several of the islands they had visited. They had complied, but before he left, Hiccup remembered seeing the girl - Syl, he remembered - running down the steps to see her mother, and ask her about something he didn't hear. It was obvious that she was her daughter - she was almost identical to her, if a bit shorter and less… Rounded. But the signature black hair, angled face and crisp green eyes sharply resembled that of her mother. Later on he remembered asking his father who she was, and he had replied that she was Syl, her daughter.

And so, there they were again, each standing in some equally high bushes on Berk, a few miles away from Thor's Rock, each staring at the other warily.

A moment later, Stormfly came pounding through the forest, the Wyvern crushing leaves and thorns under its armored paws as it did. As soon as she saw it, the girl's eyes widened, and she backed up slowly, reaching for a knife under her coat.

"No no no!" Hiccup told her, waving his hands. "She's not going to hurt you. She can take us back to Astrid, so you can-"

"No way!" She yelled at him. "There is no way I am going within ten feet of that _beast_ , never mind riding on it. No, wherever we're going, we're walking, you hear me? And that thing is staying _far_ away from us. Dragon conqueror or not, that thing is _wild._ Besides, you could end up tricking me into going back to your village, that way."

Hiccup sighed. "Please, just get on. I promise you that she won't hurt you, and I won't take you back to the village, okay?"

She crossed her arms over her chest stubbornly. "Do you want your girlfriend healed, or not?"

Hiccup groaned. "She's not my… Fine, whatever. We'll walk, but it's going to take a while."

And so it did. They walked in silence for an hour or so, Stormfly flying overhead, never more than half a mile away. Eventually, Hiccup started to ask her questions, some of them about Astrid's condition, but most of them involving something along the lines of "Just why the _hell_ are you helping me?", but getting only an angry silence as a response. Eventually, Hiccup stopped, annoyed, and told her, "You know, you're really making it hard to believe that you have _any_ idea how to cure Astrid. Seriously - I know that trap was meant for me; _I_ was the one who was going to circle over Thor's Rock - you knew that. It was an accident that Astrid tripped it, wasn't it? I swear to the Gods, if you don't start answering these questions-"

"You'll _what?_ What other choice do you have? That acid is rare - rarer than anyone else on this island knows about. You're obviously trying to hide whatever's happened to your girlfriend from your village for some reason - whatever it is, who else can you go to about this? Who do you _really_ trust to keep your secret?"

This time, it was Hiccup's turn to not respond.

They continued to walk.

Finally, they approached the site Hiccup had left from. Though the scent was potent enough on the island, the smell of the sea was much stronger than it had been before, and the leaves had dried off almost entirely from the storm the night before. He stopped in front of her, pulling some leaves to conceal the small clearing they were resting in.

"Now, before you go in here, I need you to promise not to freak out when you see… Them. Can you do that?"

She snorted. "Ha! Me? Freak out? I've seen Vikings chopped in half and singed to death by your precious _dragons._ I think I can handle whatever-"

He pulled back the leaves. As he had hoped, inside were the gray and Black Night Furies laying on the grass looking, quite frankly, bored. Toothless seemed to be picking at something in the grass in front of im, and Astrid was staring up at her ears, seemingly trying to get them to go up and down like Hiccup had seen Toothless do hundreds of times in the past. It was both unsettling and oddly hilarious at the same time.

As soon as Syl saw them, she gasped and pulled out her knife, backing up against a tree behind her. "There's… T… Two…" She stuttered. The knife clattered out of her hand.

"Yes, I know. This is kind of the problem we're having. See… Well, just come over here first. They're both perfectly harmless, okay?" These were words he had told plenty of Vikings in the past, each of them skeptical of dragons, having fought them their entire lives. As it almost always had in the past, it worked. Hesitantly and pale-faced, Syl slowly followed him a few feet into the clearing.

"See? It's fine - you're fine. Now here's the thing - the, uh, gray one is actually- WOAH!" All of a sudden, he was shoved over as Astrid barreled past him and jumped on top of the girl, pinning her to the ground. For a moment, Hiccup couldn't help but feel an odd sense of Deja-Vu, though he wasn't sure why.

The girl was breathing quickly, and she closed her eyes, trying to crawl backwards, before Astrid shoved one of her talons just above her head, making her give out a small yelp of fear.

"Oh, Gods," Hiccup cringed, and started running up to Astrid. She turned her head for a moment, and almost looked ready to thank him for a moment, before he told her, "Astrid… I am so, so sorry. Please don't hate me for doing this."

She looked confused for a moment, before Hiccup quickly slid his hand under her jowl, scratching her quickly in the sensitive spot he had on Toothless dozens of times in the past. Instantly, Astrid's eyes rolled into back into her head, and her body collapsed limply to the side, in a state of total bliss. Hiccup felt terrible, but he hadn't known what else to do.

"Gods… Syl… Meet Astrid and Toothless." The girl was still frozen on the ground, staring up at him in terror. "You really don't know how to fix her, do you?" After a moment, the question registered, and she slowly shook her head back and forth.

He looked back at Toothless, who only rolled his eyes, shrugged, and began licking his paw.

And then, Hiccup had one of the craziest ideas in his entire life. It was stupid, and he knew neither of them would like it, but like all of those he had come up with in the past, it was brilliant, too.


	7. The Explanation

**There is a lot I want to say about this chapter.**

 **To start, I'd like to apologize for its being a week late - that was another personal error of mine. Originally, I expected this to be a rather short chapter, but it ended up expanding into something a bit larger as I realized what I had to establish in it.**

 **There's something else I should probably point out - I don't greet How To Train Your Dragon in the same sort of whimsical light that's addressed in the movies, even if it might seem that way. Put quite simply, I take this much more seriously than you might think. Aside from that, those of you who watched the TV show might have a bit of an advantage in this chapter, though for those of you who haven't, I assure you you don't need to, and you'll all be in the same boat by the end of this chapter. And before you make assumptions at the end of the chapter, I promise you that the story does NOT end there! No, we have a very, very long way to go. Just to give you an idea, in the original plan for this story, everything that has happened so far was supposed to be _Chapter_ _One_ _._**

 **Overall, I expect that we'll soon enter a sort of "new era" with this series, which really does sound kind of stupid, but I'll explain that in greater detail later on. It may or may not have a lot to do with summer vacation, and my overall time management skills.**

 **Anyways, moving on to a lighter note, I apologize once again for the unexpected delay, be sure to comment, favorite, and follow, (Thanks to those of you who have, and are) and I hope you all enjoy this chapter!**

 **How To Train Your Dragon is property of DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc.**

* * *

It wasn't the first time two girls had been mad at Hiccup, but it was the first time one of them wanted to kill him, and the other was a spy.

"So, let me get this straight - the trap that I set to _kill you_ somehow ended up turning your girlfriend into a dragon? That is messed up. Like, seriously. I mean, I wouldn't wish that on anybody. Not even _you_."

It had taken some convincing, but the girl - Syl, he remembered - had eventually gotten up and luckily _hadn't_ run away on him, despite the fact that she had every right to. Luckily, once Hiccup had convinced her that Astrid was paralyzed at least momentarily, she had seemed to calm down some, almost immediately switching back over to her laid-back poise, like she had never been scared in the first place. Astrid, when she came to a few minutes later, was a bit harder to persuade.

The only difference between the last time a Night Fury had pounced on top of him and this one was that, in this case, Hiccup knew that he was much less likely to come out of the confrontation alive, if not with at least one leg left.

Astrid's eyes seemed to scream hatred at him - she had used the paralysis trick on plenty of other dragons in the past - several of them even on Stormfly - but for her to be tricked into it? By _Hiccup?_ There was no doubt about it - he was a dead man. A dead boy, even.

Of course, he knew that the trick hadn't caused her any physical harm - in fact, it was probably an enjoyable experience overall - Admittedly, Hiccup had sometimes fantasized about it one day happening to him somehow, though he hadn't thought there was any way that could ever happen to him, up until that morning, that was. But to be immobilized and disarmed in that way, especially given what had happened to her uncle over a decade before… It was probably one of the worst things he could have done to her.

But what other choice did he have? She was probably about to kill the girl, and so he'd simply… Done what he had done with other dragons in the past.

Yes, in hindsight, it was a very, very bad decision.

Still scowling at him, she began to write something in the dirt next to his face with her right paw, the talons on her left split closely around Hiccup's neck. _Of all of the things you could have turned her into,_ he thought to nobody in particular, _it had to be a Night Fury. Why not a Terror, or even a Gronckle? I could deal with those. Gods, I really hope she can't hear my thoughts right now._

He cringed as he heard one of her talons scrape roughly on some rock next to him, causing him to reminisce of honed steel swords on the grindstone in the days of the raids. It was a peculiarly familiar, yet still haunting memory.

After a moment, without checking the words, Astrid grabbed the side of his head and forcibly turned it to look at the message. Though he already knew what it was going to say, he still read it, anyways.

The runes were scribbled onto the ground haphazardly, making it nearly impossible to understand. From what Hiccup could tell, it read:

 **DEAR GODS HICCUP!**

 **I AM THIS CLOSE TO TEARING YOU TO SHREDS RIGHT NOW**

 **YOU ARE THE MOST UNBELIEVABLY STUPID PERSON I'VE EVER MET**

 **NEVER SHOULD HAVE FOLLOWED YOU INTO THE WOODS THAT DAY**

 **AND THAT LITTLE DRAGON TRICK YOU PULLED?**

 **GODS AS SOON AS YOU TURN ME BACK I SWEAR YOU WILL BE THE MOST SORRY VIKING TO EVER SET FOOT ON THIS ISLAND**

 **YOU WILL WISH THAT YOU WERE BEING MAULED TO DEATH BY A DRAGON**

 **I WILL END…**

It went on like this for another two lines, before it devolved into angry, unreadable scribbles. A few lines down, the writing became somewhat legible again, and he found the one thing he had been hoping to see.

 **YOU BETTER AS HELL HAVE A GOOD EXPLANATION FOR THIS HICCUP**

 **FOR WHAT YOU DID TO ME**

 **AND MORE IMPORTANTLY**

 **WHY THE HELL DID YOU BRING** **HER** **BACK HERE?!**

He looked back up at her, took a deep breath in, released it, and told her, "I can explain all of this. Just… Please, don't kill me."

Slowly, glaring at him with venomous eyes the whole time, Astrid pulled back her paw, her talons retracting back into her foot, before carefully crawling off of him. Her message was clear enough: "If you try to pull anything, I swear to the Gods I will end your puny life." If he hadn't been so terrified, he might've thought it was kind of hot.

As soon as she had completely gotten off of him, Hiccup slowly stood up, knowing that Astrid was prone to make a bad decision if he moved even a bit too quickly. Once he had, he brushed himself off and examined his surroundings.

He looked at their "prisoner" - Syl. She was staying more or less within the small clearing along the edge of the woods, but still putting as much space as possible in between her and the two other dragons in the area - Stormfly seemed to have flown off into the woods somewhere, no doubt looking for food.

In truth, she really wasn't their prisoner, considering that she had chosen to come with him willingly, and still could have run away if she wanted. Now that she had _seen_ the problem, of course, she knew about their situation, making her somewhat of a liability, and even more dangerous if she chose to run away. It put them all in a tricky situation, not even taking into account what she had done.

He had suspected that she hadn't known what her trap had done from the start. He already knew before he met her that she was likely connected to the tribes that had recently started to riot against them. He had been told by his father that many people wanted to kill both of them, as well as Toothless and all of their dragons, and Hiccup knew they were probably going to send someone after him, sooner or later. Finally meeting the girl, he had expected her to be some dark conjurer in black hooded robes, casting evil spells in the forest, not some scared, teenage girl wearing torn pants and a faded green tunic, trapped under a landslide. And so, he had decided that she wasn't _entirely_ to blame for what happened. Especially considering that he knew her, or at least knew where she had come from.

She was mostly as he remembered her looking the last time he had seen her - after all, it _had_ been only a mere two years before. However, it was more than obvious that she had matured and… _Developed,_ somewhat. Being the same age as him, he knew that she was bound to have grown a lot over the course of the few years he hadn't seen her for, and yet somehow, she seemed familiar. She reminded him of Heather somewhat, but by that standard _any_ girl with black hair reminded him of Heather - he hadn't seen _her_ in years, anyways. Though even then, it was somewhat ironic, considering his idea.

No, she had a much less _innocent_ feel than Heather, one wrought by years of living in a murky, poor village, with her mother as chief, of all things - he understood the feeling. Still, her sunken eyes, and the subtle but still noticeable and healed scars on her face and neck hinted at something… Darker, in her past.

Still, he wasn't going to pry her about it, especially considering that she probably still wanted to kill him even then. He had always retained the idea that anyone could change, and that Syl - he hoped - was one who had.

As to his plan, there _really_ wasn't much sanity behind it, and it all teetered on one iffy, unstable fact - They could trust Syl.

Hiccup knew that, whilst she was obviously a spy, she had also chosen to come with him, even after he had given her the opportunity to run away, back to her meeting place which she doubtless had planned and commanded to wait for her before hand. So, he had no idea what it was - she didn't seem like the sort of person who would feel _guilty_ about it, but then again, she hadn't expected her trap to turn anyone into a dragon, obviously.

Whilst he was curious, Hiccup didn't care what was keeping her with them, as long as it meant that she would help them with what he had in mind - it was absolutely ridiculous after all, even by _his_ standards, but it had also worked in the past.

But first… It would probably be a good idea to run it by Astrid, though Hiccup had a feeling it would be a bit more difficult to get her to warm up to the idea.

 _So…_

 _There are two Night Furies now._

 _One of them is that girl._

 _A girl that was turned into a dragon - into a Night Fury - by a trap that_ I _set._

 _By me._

Syl ran the same thoughts through her head over and over again, and yet she still couldn't believe it.

Was she some sort of sorcerer? Some kind of witch? It didn't seem likely, given that she had never displayed any other sort of magical talents when she was younger, though it was possible they had just come to light in her recent years - that was something that tended to happen in the legends, she knew.

But, whatever she was, she also knew she was _not_ a hero. Whilst her turning a Berkian into a dragon was a score for her own traitorous tribe, and had quite obviously distressed the Dragon Conqueror, what she had done seemed almost… _Too_ far, even for her.

Killing might have been a bit evil in its own right, especially in the way she had originally planned, but everyone knew that if they had lived the life of a warrior, they would dine in the Halls of Valhalla for eternity after they died. It was a simple fact, and she understood that it would likely apply to the Dragon Conqueror, considering that he had _supposedly_ killed the monstrosity of a dragon in their volcanic nest a few years before then. So overall, she knew she wouldn't even feel a bit of remorse for killing him, or the girl, for that matter.

But to turn someone into a dragon… That was just _cruel_. To doom someone to a life of eternal hatred and be forced to wake up every day knowing that you were a wild beast… That was just inhumane - that, she felt bad for. Though not quite enough for her _not_ to feel at least a sliver of satisfaction for what she had accomplished.

Besides, her village had abandoned her, anyways - what good did it do if she helped them - she might as well have been working _with_ them, for all they cared.

Sure, she was standing with them at the moment, but that was far from actually _working_ with them. Just because she had been exiled didn't meant that she needed to immediately switch sides, and so she had chosen not to. At least, not yet…

No, instead she was simply going along with what happened - letting fate take her where it wanted. After all, it seemed as though it couldn't have been a coincidence, all that had happened. To be trapped on the island, then rescued by the Dragon Conqueror? It seemed as though the Gods had guided them together, for whatever reason. But still, at any moment in time, she was ready to whip out her dagger and go down kicking and screaming, if that was what it meant to ensure her freedom. Above all other things, she never, _never,_ wanted to die a captive. And given what had already happened, she had a feeling that she would have to, be it sooner or later.

Hiccup seemed to be entertaining the idea that his girlfriend still had her memories intact, though she found that somewhat difficult to believe, given the quite dragon-like way she had reacted when Syl had first walked into the clearing. Although, she _did_ recall her being a warrior when she was a human, and given what Syl had done to her… It was _almost_ understandable that she had tackled her. Almost.

As soon as he had crawled out from under the she-dragon, who had tackled him as well, he began talking to her, forcing Syl to work up the nerve to slink over and listen. Her mother had always told her that her curiosity would inevitably be her demise - though Syl had never listened.

She only caught parts of sentences at first, but as she moved closer, the sentences became easier to piece together. "... I have a plan, or a backup plan, anyways. And yes, before you ask, she was the one we found running in the woods, and that set the trap that turned you into a dragon... But she didn't mean to! I don't think so, anyways. Well, she did want to kill me, or at least severely injure one of us… But that's beside the point! Anyways, we need her for what I'm thinking of doing, and, I'm sorry Astrid, but you're going to have to trust in-"

At this point, Astrid, she remembered, seemed to notice the rapidly closing distance between Syl and herself, and began to growl under her breath as she narrowed her eyes and widened her stance. The black one, she noticed, also began to slowly make its way back over to the dragon conqueror, but didn't seem threatening to her just yet.

Hiccup glanced over at her, and raised an eyebrow. "Um… Listen, do you think you could leave us alone for this? It's kind of… Private, I guess."

Syl's jaw dropped open.

"Private? I'm sorry, but did I just hear you saying that you needed _me_ for something? If you think you're just going to get me to do whatever you want, you've got another thing coming, _bud._ Do you think I want to be here right now, that I came here willingly?" She was about to go on, but she realized she had probably already said too much - what he didn't know and she did was the only advantage she had in this situation, and she intended to keep it that way.

He sighed, rolled his eyes, then told her. "Look, I can take you back to our village, and back to my father right now, if you want. I could get them to lock you up for life, maybe even kill you if I said the right things. But I don't want to do that - I _never_ want to do that. I gave you the option to run away earlier," - At this, the she-dragon's face dropped open in absolute shock - "and you didn't take it. So, for some reason, you're staying with us. We all know what you did - you don't have to pretend that you're going to suddenly run away because you're 'scared' of us."

She scowled at him. "Don't have to pretend I want to be here, either…" She mumbled.

The boy sighed again and continued to stare at her. "Listen, I'll explain this all to you in a minute - and you owe her this," -he pointed at the gray dragon- "You owe _us_ this, along with a lot more. Just let me run it by her first." His hands out, and his expression desperate, he looked about as negotiable as a person could be - obviously a true diplomat at heart, but certainly not a warrior, nor a 'dragon conqueror', as some seemed to see him as.

She rolled her eyes. "Fine." She replied, backing away into the woods some. She wouldn't listen… Or at least wouldn't let them _know_ she was listening. As soon as she was under the cover of the branches, she whipped back around and hid behind a tree as close as she could get to hearing them without them seeing her. Luckily, the forest was relatively dense at that time of the year, and so she could easily hide herself in the underbrush and bushes beneath the trees. She peered at them through the bushes once again, and strained to hear what he was telling her.

"First of all - I'm really sorry about what happened with the whole scratching-trick. I panicked and I didn't know what to do, and I just… Anyways, I'm really sorry, Astrid. I'd do anything to take that back."

She snorted at him.

He nodded carefully. "Now, onto _why_ I brought her here… You're not going to like this..." At this, he glanced around to make sure she wasn't looking, though luckily he didn't go over her hiding spot. She doubted he would've been able to see her, anyways.

Still, he bent down and whispered something into the girl's ear, which seemed to take a few minutes. Why he did it, Syl wouldn't understand until much later.

If a dragon's face could go white, Astrid's did just then. Rather than breaking out in anger or contempt, her eyes widened and her mouth slowly fell open in pure mortification, as if whatever he had suggested was the most terrifying thing she had ever heard, which, Syl would later on come to realize, it was.

"Now, I know what you're thinking," Hiccup replied. This was followed by some desperate scribbling on the ground by Astrid, which Syl couldn't read for her life. Without looking at it, Hiccup replied, "It would only be for a few days. Or… Maybe a few weeks. However long it takes for me to figure out how to… _Fix_ , this. Believe me, I don't want to do this either, Astrid, but it solves a lot of the problems we have right now. No… I… I don't know if we can trust her. But we have to have faith - she's stayed with us for this long, so she must want to be our ally… Or something like that. I know it seems unlikely, but… Why else would she be here? Yeah, I know she's a spy. No, I don't think she's still spying on us. At least not for her tribe, anyways. I think maybe she's defecting, and wants to make an alliance with us. I don't know why. Yeah, I know she probably would have told us by now, but… Well, I have no other choice, Astrid! I don't know what's going to happen if I tell my father, and we don't even know how the village would react, okay? I… I don't know what else to do, and we've pulled it off before, remember? Listen, we might not even have to do this - it's just a backup plan, okay? Now… Yeah, she's probably… Syl, you can come out, now!"

She stepped out of the forest a moment later, hesitantly. She quickly started to say, "I wasn't sp-" before Hiccup cut her off with a wave of his hand.

"You don't have to pretend, Syl. We know you were listening. Just… Will you tell us why you're doing this for us? I mean, just a few hours ago you were trying to kill us - why the sudden change of heart?"  
She thought about it for a moment, trying to come up with an answer, before replying, "You were right. I'm defecting from my tribe." He seemed surprised for a moment, but let her continue.

She sighed, and tried to feign an empathetic expression. "After I set the trap, I realized how terrible my mother was, how my whole tribe was. I decided I didn't want to be a part of that anymore. I didn't want to be responsible for killing people"

She had to force herself to say the next part. "I… Thought I'd give you a chance. I panicked earlier and tried to run away, and I feel bad about it. I feel bad about the way our tribe treats you. Maybe… Dragons aren't so bad after all. Either way, I only want revenge against her and the rest of that _wretched_ tribe." She tried to finish with the most malice she could, which wasn't really that hard. She wasn't exactly lying, anyways - she wasn't a part of the tribe anymore, and she _did_ want revenge on her mother, something that she hadn't realized until she said it. And revenge was best served _cold._

Hiccup raised an eyebrow, skeptical, and Astrid seemed even more so, but he nodded slowly and replied, "Alright… Well, if you're just willing to hop onto-"

Her eyes widened. "Uh… Maybe we could wait on that?" She told him quickly. "I mean, I still don't know if I can trust _you._ I don't see why we have to go anywhere, either. If I get on that... dragon, you could just fly me back to the village and lock me up. If we walk, you can't trick me without me finding out before we get to the village."

Hiccup sighed. "Fine, let's just go. I need to see if there's any way we can get Astrid back to normal before the end of tonight. I just want to go back and pretend nothing ever happened, okay? And who knows? Maybe eventually we can get you to be accepted as part of our tribe, too!"

* * *

The walk was uneventful, for the most part. She knew it took longer than it might've, as Hiccup had to stop and fix his metal leg several times, which she somehow hadn't noticed he had until then, despite their long walk through the forest just a short while before.

The sun slowly descended below the mountains as they hiked, dying the clouds and treetops in hues of orange and gold. Normally, Syl might've noticed it, and even considered it beautiful, if she hadn't had her eyes pasted on the two Night Furies the entire time.

In truth, she wasn't even sure which she was more terrified of. Astrid, as Hiccup claimed she was, _seemed_ to have kept her memories and sanity intact, but still Syl couldn't help but be wary of her. And yet, the more they walked, and the more Hiccup talked to her, the more Syl could understand how the dragon-girl almost killing her _might_ be justified, considering the circumstances. But then again, she was already walking through the forest as a dragon like she had done so every day of her life, which couldn't help but make Syl wonder - what if she had wanted this? Their tribe was all dragon-happy, after all.

Then there was the black one. The male.

He was what she had feared for years. When she was little, her brother had given her the 'dragon talk', and one of the dragons he had mentioned - that she had already heard about in the past, to be fair - was the dreaded Night Fury. It was said that it could trap a man's very soul within its scales, and lived off of the fear of the young. Her brother, of course, was kind enough to save her of the more gory tales of the Night Fury's victims, though even he knew it was inevitable that she would learn them when she grew older.

And yet… Here it was, pawing along less than fifty feet from her, (she was still keeping a decent gap between all three of the beasts, who wouldn't let her get close to Hiccup, anyways) no more vicious than a house cat. It was baffling, truthfully. Of course, she knew, especially now that she had seen _two_ , that Night Furies might not have been as viciously terrifying as the old legends made them about to be, and yet still, being pinned down by Astrid in the forest, wondering for a few moments if that was it, that was the end of _her_ story… It made the legends seem all too real. Aside from that, Hiccup seemed practically _attached_ to his own dragon, leading Syl to wonder if the ancient beast really _did_ have his soul trapped within his scales. Perhaps it was controlling his thoughts and actions in order to lure Vikings into a false sense of security around dragons. Maybe it was controlling the entire island… Maybe even her…

She brushed the thought off and continued walking. After all, they were just stories, and legends - nothing more. But then again, she had just turned a girl into a dragon…

* * *

She didn't start to panic until she saw the village.

"Gods… I should've known! You were just going to lead me back to the village and, _WHAM_ , right into the prison." She tried to run back into the forest, only to have the black Night Fury appear seemingly out of thin air in front of her, blocking her path with a throaty growl. She gasped, and took a step back, looking for another exit.

"We're not going to the village, just Gothi's house. Our Elder, that is." Hiccup told her calmly. Starring daggers at him, she stopped trying to run, but held her ground. He sighed and closed his eyes. "It's just near the top of this next mountain. People don't usually go there past dark unless there's an emergency, so we should be fine. I just need to ask her some questions, see if she can fix all of this, then maybe we can… Get you back home, or acquainted with our tribe, I guess. If she can't, well… I'll explain when we get there."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "You promised that nobody else would know I was here unless I agreed to it," she sneered.

He rolled his eyes. "Technically I didn't _promise…_ Listen, it'll only be her, and we can _trust_ Gothi, I know that. More than anyone else on Berk.

Astrid seemed to seethe at this, and looked as though she wanted to say something, but, of course, didn't.

"Fine," Syl replied, "But I'm staying hidden 'till I know you're not leading me into a trap." She replied.

The trek up the back of the mountain was nearly pitch-black, making it almost impossible to see the narrow trail winding through the crags. But Hiccup insisted that there be no light of any kind, or else someone from below might see them. It was windy, and a bit of snow even started to fall when they passed above the timberline, baffling Syl. The mountain was _much_ higher than any place on her home island. Yet it wasn't even the largest one on Berk. Perched on the top, still a few hundred feet above them, was a small house.

Gothi's hut, on the other hand, _did_ have something in common with her homeland - it was quite obviously old and practically in shambles, with only a few beams holding a large wooden platform out over a steep ledge, that supported the entire hut. The red-and-green paint on the trim had faded after being exposed to the sun for so many years, and the dragon's head at the top was missing the bottom half of its mouth. It was nearly impossible to tell what damages might have come from years of dangerous living, or just the storm the night before. It was crumbling, and old, and Syl had no idea why _anyone_ as important as Hiccup made her out to be would live in such a place, but the hut's worn, weather-beaten sturdiness was also a small reminder of her home. Syl wasn't sure if she should've felt invigorated or depressed at the sight, and so she chose to just ignore the reminder altogether.

Hiccup was right about the night - though they had climbed up an old trail on the backside of the mountain, which Hiccup had claimed was well hidden and nobody used anymore, it was obvious that no one dared to climb up the mountain after dusk - it had been nearly impossible to travel up in the dark, and she could easily imagine getting lost without knowing the path by heart. Nearing the top, Hiccup looked at the black Night Fury and told him, "Alright, Toothless. We're almost-"

Syl blinked, and interrupted him. "Wait… Toothless?"

Hiccup stared at her for a moment, confused, then told her. "Well, yeah… I mean, that's his name."

Syl stared at him for a moment, dumbstruck. "Out of all of the names to choose from, you named your dragon… Toothless? Why the hell would you do that?"

The Night Fury stared at her for a moment, looking quite annoyed, then opened its maw, to reveal a pink, gummy mouth, startling her. Suddenly, in less than a heartbeat, a long, curved row of tiny, pointed teeth darted into its mouth and back out, sliding back up into his nose, and down into his jaw.

Syl stared for a moment, frozen, then burst out laughing.

"PHAHAHAHAHA! The great dragon conqueror riding into battle on his mighty Night Fury, Toothless! Oh, it'll go down into the storybooks, and everything! Oh that is _hilarious!_ Toothless! Wow."

The Night Fury frowned, but Astrid seemed to smirk at him, for some reason.

A moment later, syl still hadn't stopped laughing, and Hiccup started to get nervous. The Night Fury growled as well, but she didn't stop. "Syl, yeah, it's funny, alright? Now please, quiet down, someone could hear us, which would be very, very bad for all of us!"

She giggled one last time, then told him, "Alright, alright, I'm sorry, I'll be fine."

Hiccup rolled his eyes and turned back up the slope, just in time for her to hear him say "Some spy you are…"

She frowned, and shivered. They continued walking up the mountain.

A few steps before they approached the dimly lit hut, Syl dodged behind a rock, and Astrid followed suit in front of her, hiding behind the largest boulder she could find, which only barely hid her girth. Surprisingly, she seemed to blend in quite well with the stone, and Syl even had to blink once to assure herself she was really there.

Hiccup rolled his eyes, turning around for a moment to smirk at them. "Nobody's going to see either of you. There's nobody up here, and Gothi's probably-"

The door to the hut burst open.

Hiccup whirled back around, as did his dragon, who seemed to be staring at Astrid for some reason. "Gothi! How nice to… Um… See you. You're looking… Well?"

Gothi, as Syl presumed she was, didn't have the most reassuring appearance. Shorter than ever herself, Gothi appeared to be a frail old woman, with bags under her eyes and shaking hands, and a dented helm. With her, she carried a long staff, with several tiny skulls and trinkets attached to the rounded top by tiny, thin hairs. When he greeted her, Hiccup seemed to be acting incredibly courteous and respectful, putting on the largest smile his face could possibly manage. Syl, quite frankly, couldn't figure out why. She didn't appear to be a healer - in fact, she didn't appear to be much of anything at all, just wasted space. On Syl's island, if someone got old to the point where they couldn't work anymore, they would generally send them into the mountains to live on their own, if they didn't die in the village. Wisdom was age was a little sought-after thing in her tribe, and if becoming what this woman was what it required, she could understand why.

Rather than greet him in kind, she began to write in the dirt, which Syl couldn't help but find somewhat rude, scumbag that she knew the dragon conqueror was. Rather than asking for a verbal reply, however, he just read the text - she couldn't see what it said - and replied, "Uh, it's kind of complicated. Well, I guess not if you step back and look at it, but… Anyways, I know the Village has probably been burning down the forest looking for us, but… Well, Astrid and I went out patrolling for spies yesterday, and… We found one. Toothless and I crashed trying to catch her, Astrid went out to look for her with Toothless, and she tripped some trap in the forest the spy had set, some acid dumped on her, Toothless ran out to find me, and... Well, you can come out now, guys…" Hiccup motioned for them to come out, a worried expression on his face.

Astrid stepped out from behind the rock. Hesitating for a moment, Syl followed behind her, arms crossed, glaring angrily at the ground - how had she gotten herself stuck in this mess?

After a second went by in silence, Syl looked up. Where 'Toothless' was nearly impossible to see in the dark aside from his eyes and tail, Astrid was, whilst not necessarily _bright_ , much easier to make out. Gothi, despite her no-doubt failing eyesight, could obviously see clearly enough to know that something was very, very wrong. As she stared at Astrid, her eyes widened, and her mouth slowly fell open. Blinking after a moment, and shaking her head, she quickly scribbled something in the dirt, motioning towards Astrid and Syl, who were still standing behind Toothless and Hiccup, away from the dim light coming through the door of the hut. Syl edged closer to try to read it, but Hiccup responded as soon as she could see it.

"Yeah, that's Astrid, she… I… Agh, please, Gothi I don't know what to do! I… She's not sure what happened, and… It's been a really long day… Oh, and that's, well… She's the spy…"

Gothi's eyes narrowed, and she sneered at Syl, raising her staff like a weapon. Hiccup quickly waved his hands, and said, "But she's okay! She was forced to set it and spy on us against her will, like Heather was. I found her under a landslide this morning. She said she wants to be part of our tribe. She's from the, uh… Veiklaðar… Tribe…" He finished awkwardly. Gothi lowered her staff, but still stared at her.

"Please," Hiccup told her, desperation in his voice. "I don't know how to fix this, and neither does she. I knew that if there was anyone on this island that could help her, it would be you. So… Can you?"

The Elder turned her chin up and stared at Astrid for a moment. Astrid looked down at the ground in response, embarrassed, as if she were somehow ashamed of what she had done, and Syl could understand why. For a moment, she felt pity for the girl, and something she hadn't felt in a long time, as well - guilt. But she couldn't afford to feel that way - as soon as this all went south - which she was sure it would, sooner or later - she needed to be able to get out of there as fast as she could, with no lingering regrets.

A moment later, Gothi broke her gaze, and scribbled something else on the ground. This time, Syl could read it.

 **HAVE YOU TOLD YOUR FATHER ABOUT THIS?**

"Uh," Hiccup replied, taking a sudden interest in his shoes, "I figured that you might be able to fix this before I had to tell-" -She whacked him over the head with her staff- "Ow! I'm sorry, I thought maybe you could fix this without him having to finding out. I.. I just want her back, Gothi. I want everything to go back to normal."

She stared at him for a moment, evaluating him. Then, she humphed, and walked hobbled back into the the house, motioning for them to follow. Hiccup glanced back at Toothless, who seemed to shrug, before following her into the house.

A moment later, after closely observing the relatively human-sized door, Toothless nearly knocked Syl over, even over twenty feet away from her. With a huge flap of his wings, he jumped up onto the roof of the house with what Syl had to admit was incredible grace, before disappearing back onto the other side. She looked up at the roof in awe for a moment, before she heard a timid whimper beside her. Astrid looked oddly panicky, contrasting the rather threatening demeanor Syl had seen for as long as she had known her. Or at least, known _of_ her. She looked up at Syl after a moment desperately, her breathing becoming a bit rapid, before turning back to stare terrified up at the roof, and that's when Syl realized - she was afraid to jump. Of course! She had only been a dragon for a few hours, of course - it was surprising she had even walked as far as she had. If the same thing had happened to _her_ … She didn't even know how she would react.

Syl shrugged, taking a step back instinctively - she wasn't going to forget how she had tackled her just a few hours before, after all. Human inside or not, that girl was a predator, and couldn't be trusted - no more than the black one. _Toothless_ , she remembered.

Astrid narrowed her eyes at her and huffed, turning back to the house. Steeling herself up, she backed up from the house, walking back as far as she could, all the way against the cliff wall behind the building. As soon as she had assured herself that she was as far back as she could go, she started running, then leapt less than ten feet away from the house. Before she even landed, Syl knew it wasn't going to be nearly as graceful as Toothless's. A quarter of the way off the ground, she made a half-attempt to flap her wings, but the ends slapped against the ground _almost_ uselessly. Going into another panic, she tried desperately to grab onto the curved roof of the house with her front paws, and was just barely able to keep herself there, as her claws dug into the wood, leaving deep gouges in the half-thatched roof. Syl watched as she slowly pulled herself up onto the roof for a moment, which was almost comedic, before quickly stepping into the doorway of the house.

The inside of the Elder's abode was slightly surprising, but nothing that she hadn't seen before. The interior was similar to the average design used around Berk and her own village, with a small loft and a lower floor with a firepit in the center, and a kitchen and bedroom farther in. The differences were the subtle things - a bookshelf was stocked mainly with bottles of faded but still colorful liquids, along with a few scrolls with pictures of flowers and grasses in them, with text in languages she had never seen before. A few candles were all that lit the room, with a few arranged in a star-pattern on a nearby table, blue paint connecting all of them. A large cauldron was hung over the firepit, though the kindling itself was unlit, which Syl considered odd, considering how cold she knew it must have gotten at night, especially so high up on a mountain. For a moment, Syl entertained the idea that maybe this lady was actually an old witch, who boiled parrot's feet and dog's tongue to create evil brews and hexes, though she knew it couldn't be true. After all, Hiccup claimed that she was only the town's healer, and they wouldn't just let a witch live amongst them… Right?

She didn't have the chance to think about it. A large crash came from above, followed by a screech. Instinctively, she looked up at the ceiling instinctively, and a sudden boom shook a bunch of dust and sand down onto the ground, as if a weight had just been dropped on top of the roof. There was another screech, and suddenly she saw a large shape crash down onto the platform outside of the house through a window, and Toothless jumped out of the way just in time, splitting several of the boards as it landed and threatening to collapse. Luckily, it held, and Astrid seemed to be relatively fine, though she still groaned as she tried to get up - she had landed on her wings.

Hiccup ran outside, followed by Gothi, and he tried to help Astrid back onto her feet, nearly getting his face whipped by her flailing wings and tail in the process. Then suddenly, Toothless… _Said_ something to her, she realized - they must have had some sort of mind-link that humans couldn't hear. Did that mean that the dragon had some sort of influence over Astrid? It didn't seem likely, but she didn't rule it out, either.

As Hiccup helped Astrid slowly climb back onto her feet, Gothi quickly dashed back into the hut back into the hut, going to one of the bookshelves to gather up a few flowers and grasses. Once she had, she moved back over to one of the several workbenches, her feet dangling off of the stool, and began to grind them up with a mortar and pestle. Glancing outside one last time, Syl slinked over to the table to watch.

"So, uh, is this some kind of po-" she started to ask, but was cut off suddenly when the elder stuck the top of her staff up against her jaw, forcing it closed, still staring intently at the mixture. A moment later, she grabbed a nearby piece of parchment and quill, scribbled something down on it, then shoved it in front of Syl's face.

 **WHAT WAS IN THE ACID?**

Stuttering, Syl replied, "Uh… Just some table salt, melted iron, copper, a few other things…" Her voice quickly trailed off.

Gothi looked at her for a moment, confused and bewildered. Once again, she wrote something on the paper, then shoved it into her face.

 **WHERE DID YOU LEARN TO DO THAT? HOW DID YOU KNOW IT WOULD WORK? WHERE DID YOU GET THE MATERIALS?**

"Well," she shrugged, "I've been messing around with that stuff for as long as I can remember. I was just glad it didn't melt through the vase. Had to coat the inside with two layers of wax - went through a few containers before I found a good one."

Gothi raised an eyebrow, and she realized her mistake. "And by _glad,_ I mean, glad because otherwise, my, uh… Mother would have killed me…" She felt like slapping herself, but then realized something; this was an old woman, who couldn't even _talk,_ what could she possibly give away?

Gothi rolled her eyes and went to another bookshelf. This one had an assortment of clear and colored liquids in various bottles and containers on them. Some had caps, whilst others didn't. She slowly moved her hand up to a shelf just a foot taller than herself to a bright red glass, then quickly pulled it back, and selected one just two rows below it. This glass was purple, and murky on the inside, and almost seemed to be swirling around the glass on its own.

She brought it back to the table. Then, ever so carefully, she began to pour the mixture into the glass. Out of the corner of her eye, Syl noticed Hiccup come walk into the room, and his dragon poked its head through one of the windows. Astrid remained outside, staring intently at the Nadder from earlier, that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

Suddenly, the liquid flared a bright green for a moment, then faded back down to its normal dull purple. Syl stared at in in awe for a moment, before turning to look at Hiccup and Astrid, who were both watching it with equal apprehension.

Gothi seemed more or less unphased by the occurrence, but still pulled a pair of tongs out of a nearby drawer, and ever-so carefully lifted the vial. Hobbling, she carried it outside to Astrid. Syl followed behind, as did Hiccup.

Standing in the doorway, as far away as she could from the dragons, whilst being able to see, she watched Gothi pour the liquid into a small bowl, a smaller version of the cauldron in the house. She set it on the ground, a few feet in front of Astrid. A steady stream of steam floated out of the top, quickly dissipating in the cold winter air.

Gothi pointed to Astrid, and then to the liquid. Astrid raised an eyebrow, as did Hiccup.

"Um," Syl broke the silence, and everyone's heads turned to her. "I think she wants you to drink it."

Astrid looked at her for a moment, then turned back to Gothi, who was nodding.

Her jaw dropped, and she turned to her boyfriend, desperately. Gothi just rolled her eyes, and wrote in a small patch of dirt on the ground,

 **YOU ARE A DRAGON. YOU HAVE FIRE IN YOUR BELLY.**

 **THIS WILL BE LIKE NOTHING.**

Syl decided she liked this woman.

Hiccup sighed. "Astrid," he told her, "This could turn you back! I know you've been through a lot in the past few days, but… Please, Astrid. This might be our only chance to change you back!"

Astrid continued to stare at the liquid, without looking up. After a moment, she took a deep breath, approached the liquid, and slurped it up with her tongue.

Syl had never seen a dragon drink before, but she was pretty sure Astrid was doing it wrong. Most of the liquid ended up falling on the floor, hissing as it made contact with the wooden planks. But, she got most of it in, and nearly gagged as she swallowed it all.

Nothing happened.

"So, uh," Hiccup began, "is… Is this going to take a little while, or…?"

The elder continued to stare at Astrid for another moment, then slowly shook her head. She began to write in the dirt again.

 **DID NOT THINK THAT WOULD WORK ANYWAYS**

 **WILL NEED DIFFERENT MATERIALS FROM JOHANN**

 **DON'T KNOW WHEN HE'LL BE HERE**

 **COULD BE TOMORROW, COULD BE FEW WEEKS**

 **WINTER COMES SOON**

 **GO TELL YOUR FATHER ABOUT THIS**

 **HE MIGHT KNOW WHAT TO DO**

 **IF NOT, I KNOW**

 **HE WILL DO EVERYTHING HE CAN FOR HER.**

Syl expected Hiccup to look devastated, defeated, even, but he didn't. Instead, he crossed his arms, nodded, and kept staring at the dirt. After a moment, he bent down to Gothi's height, and whispered something in her ear, pointing at Syl as he did.

Gothi's eyes widened for a moment, but then went back to their normal, wise gaze, and she smiled at Syl for a moment, surprising her. Then, becoming serious again, she began to write in the dirt again, wiping away most of her previous message with her staff before she did.

 **HICCUP**

 **BY ALL MEANS, I SHOULD**

 **WARN YOU AGAINST DOING THIS**

 **YOU HAVE ATTEMPTED IT IN THE PAST**

 **AND IT ENDED IN NEAR DISASTER**

 **BUT THIS ONE TIME, I WILL HELP YOU**

 **BUT IF YOU WISH TO DO THIS**

 **I DO NOT KNOW HOW LONG IT WILL BE FOR**

 **IT COULD BE WEEKS**

 **EVEN MONTHS BEFORE I CAN FIND A CURE**

 **I AM ASSUMING ASTRID HAS AGREED TO THIS**

Astrid, who had been staring at Syl, looked down at the words, growled, then nodded slowly, glaring at her as she did. Gothi curtly nodded back.

 **AND HER?**

She pointed her staff at Syl. Hiccup looked down at the ground. "I'm going to ask her in a few minutes. I need to go get something, first. Besides… She does kind of owe us this." Gothi stared at him for a moment, almost angrily, then rolled her eyes.

 **FINE**

 **BUT YOU MUST REMEMBER**

 **IF SHE ACCEPTS**

 **YOU MUST NOT LET ANY HARM COME TO HER**

 **YOU ARE AS RESPONSIBLE IN THIS AS SHE WILL BE**

 **DO NOT DISAPPOINT ME IN THIS, HICCUP**

 **YOU WILL BE CHIEF SOMEDAY.**

 **I WILL PREPARE WHAT YOU WILL NEED.**

"Thank you so much, Gothi. I knew we could count on you, and I promise I won't let you down." She smiled, nodded, then hobbled back into her hut.

Suddenly seeming quite happy, Hiccup ran over to his Night Fury. "I'll be back in a few minutes. Just need to grab a few things. I promise I'll explain everything, Syl!" As his dragon lifted off into the starry night sky, he yelled down one last thing, as if he had just thought of it.

"Oh, and don't kill each other!" Then he was gone.

* * *

Astrid didn't know what to think.

Sure, she was still mad at Hiccup for literally _paralyzing_ her when she had pounced upon whom she knew must have been her enemy. It had been an… Interesting, experience. Truthfully, it had been the most blissful feeling she could ever recall having in her life, but she chose to ignore it - Hiccup had crossed a line.

But on top of that, he had immediately approached her with the most insane, unrealistic ideas that he had ever come up with. Sure they had pulled it off in the past - when they were younger, with Astrid, _who Hiccup had known and trusted for his entire life._ And now, he told her that he wanted to do the same once again with a girl who they _knew_ was spying on them, _knew_ tried to kill him, and _knew_ turned Astrid into a Gods-damned _Night Fury._ And now, he had the audacity to tell her he _trusted_ this girl.

Astrid certainly didn't - there was no good reason for her to still be with them, aside from the fact that she owed it to Hiccup for nearly making him break his leg, and Astrid for, well, _turning her into a dragon._ As far as doing it "against her will" and running away from her tribe went, she didn't believe that, either. She had met Veiklaðar Vikings before. They were rough around the edges - which was saying a lot, coming from a Viking - but they were loyal to their tribes, even throughout the hardships she knew they went through. Either this girl was still spying on them, or something else was keeping her there.

There was one thing Astrid believed - she had no idea how to make Astrid human again. At first, it had seemed likely that this had originally been her plan - to turn her, or Hiccup, into a dragon, then come back with him only to ensure that her plan had succeeded. But when she had tackled her - which had felt surprisingly good, after years of being looked down on for being known as a little girl - she had seen something in her eyes besides fear: confusion. She wasn't just afraid of Astrid - she had never even expected this to happen. No, the trap was intended to do something different. Something _very_ different, by the sound of it. When Hiccup told her he had found her trapped under a landslide, and not just waiting in the woods for him to find her, that had confirmed it - there was no way this girl had turned her into a dragon, and so there was no way she knew how to turn her back.

And so, Hiccup had come up with an idea of how she could be _useful._ She should have been proud of him - after all, she was always the one telling him that everyone has a purpose, and they should dedicate their lives to it, no matter what. So of course, he had to find the use for her that Astrid truly and genuinely believed was the worst he could possibly come up with.

She examined the girl.

Ironically enough, she did remind her of Heather - her dull green tunic and jet-black hair was similar to what she had had - what she had worn once, even. But her face and jawline lacked the innocent look that Heather had, even after they learned what a traitor she was. No, this girl had obviously received a harsh upbringing, she knew. Always wondering if her family would have enough wood for a fire, if there would be food at the table - she knew for herself what it was like. During the winter, the village would often be snowed in for days, or even weeks, leading people to stock up huge piles of fish and lamb before the ice set in. Luckily, their village had been lucky enough not to experience one such since they had made peace with the dragons, but still some wondered - what would happen when they ran out of food, as well?

Suddenly, Astrid realized Syl had mumbled something under her breath. Due to her newly heightened sense of hearing, she had been able to understand it just fine - she just hadn't been paying attention.

"... Anyways, I just wanted you to know… I'm sorry I turned you into a… A Night Fury. That _really_ sucks. I mean, you seemed pretty cool when I saw you in your village. Of course, I've still never really talked to you. And… I guess we probably won't unless your boyfriend and that old lady can find a way to get you back. I… I know you probably don't trust me, and you have a right not to, but. I… I do feel really bad about that. I have no idea what I would do if that happened to me, but…" Her voice trailed off.

Astrid glanced back at Stormfly, who was staring off over the village from the edge of the platform. Her dragon had seemed to have tried talking to her earlier, obviously trying to do the same as Toothless had that morning. He had told her that she could send mind-messages to her, as well, but she had decided to refrain from doing it - it seemed to personal, given that she couldn't say anything back. If she ever wanted to talk to _her_ , she decided, she would have to learn the dragon-language, which was something she didn't plan on doing anytime soon.

Astrid looked back at the girl, who was sitting with her arms over her legs near the hut. Then started to walk towards her. She watched as the girl's eyes widened for a moment, and she scooted backwards towards Gothi's hut, until her back hit the corroded wooden wall. Despite her earlier statement that she believed 'dragons weren't so bad' it was obvious that she was still terrified of them, and Astrid was no exception, given what she had done earlier. Still, she continued to move towards her, until she was just a few feet in front of her, and could even hear the poor girl's rapid heartbeat, and quick breathing.

She stared into her eyes for a moment - they were a faded blue, like the gray, murky waters of morning only fishermen like Bucket and Mulch saw. And they were terrified - not just of her, but… Of something else. Astrid was sure of it now - this girl hadn't joined them by choice - something had obligated her to do it, but Astrid just couldn't quite figure it out.

She could see some of the logic in Hiccup's plan - they had pulled it off relatively well in the past, and nobody else in the town could do it. In a way, Hiccup probably thought they had been incredibly lucky to have her show up - they might not have been able to do it, otherwise. But all of it rode on one small fact, and it was one that Astrid did not believe could work, until Syl had spoken out.

Staring at her for only a moment longer, Astrid looked down at the hard-packed dirt in front of her, and began to write another message. Syl seemed relieved, but still worried - that was something they would have to change.

 **HICCUP DOESN'T WANT ME TO TELL YOU**

 **WHAT IT IS HE WANTS TO DO YET**

 **BUT IF WE DO THIS,**

 **YOU'RE GOING TO NEED TO LEARN TO TRUST ME.**

Abandoning her fear for a moment, Syl gave a nervous snort. "Trust you? You tried to kill me earlier - and almost did! I don't know what this plan of yours is, but it's not going to come quite so easily if you think this is that simple."

Astrid sighed, then wrote,

 **WITH ALL DUE RESPECT**

 **YOU COULD KIND OF USE A**

 **FRIEND RIGHT NOW**

 **CAN WE AT LEAST START THERE?**

Syl sighed, and looked away, mumbling, "I don't really make friends..."

 **WHY NOT?**

"I just…" she looked back up at her. "Friends don't really work for me, I… I wasn't very popular back home. I used to get into fights, 'cause all the boys used to tell me I wasn't doing what girls were supposed to. My brother…" She stopped suddenly, and jerked her head up. Her face lost the vulnerability of a moment before, replaced quickly by a tough resolve. "I… I've said too much. I shouldn't even be talking about this stuff."

Astrid had struck some sort of nerve - and she knew it. It was a small amount of progress - but they had a long way to go if they were to follow through with Hiccup's plan, especially given the incredibly short time they would have to build it up with if they were going to succeed. _But if there's anyone to do it,_ Astrid thought, _she's perfect._ And yet, she was somewhat glad that the conversation had ended - she still felt ready to pounce on this girl at any minute, and getting people to talk peacefully had always been Hiccup's thing, anyways.

 **NO, IT'S A GOOD THING**

Astrid wrote.

"No…" Syl slowly shook her head back and forth, staring at Stormfly. "I'm not even supposed to be here. I… I should've left when he gave me the chance. I should-" Syl was suddenly cut off as Toothless and Hiccup landed on the platform, her best friend looking at her worriedly. He had a faded brown pack slung over his arm. Astrid already knew what was inside, though she wished she didn't.

She turned around and moved over to them, though Syl remained pasted to the hut - one of the many habits she would have to break, if they went through with it.

 **YOU FOUND IT OKAY?**

Hiccup nodded. "Little hard to get in, but I got it, yeah. I stopped at the… Um… Trap site to see what happened, too. I don't think anyone saw me, though I can't be sure. Are… Are you sure you want to go through with this, Astrid? We could always just bring you back to my father. I don't know how the village would react, but… You never know. We could always just hide, or run away, as well... And this girl - Syl, I… I don't know if we can trust her, to be honest. And I know we've just met her, but we have to do this now if we want it to… To..." His voice trailed off. She looked back at the girl, still leaning against the house. If she squinted enough, she almost thought she could see Gothi smiling at them from the inside of the house, as well. Syl was apprehensive, but had a certain determination in her eyes that was rarely seen. It wasn't the battle-prowess or glory-of-victory look she had seen in the past - it went deeper than that, delving into a lifetime of put-downs and taunts, a belief that even if she never amounted to anything, she still had to try. They had discussed at length what they would have to do during the walk to Gothi's house, and Astrid slowly became convinced that they _might_ just be able to pull it off. Either way, she would be _perfect._

Turning back to Hiccup, she wrote out in the dirt,

 **YOU KNOW I HATE THIS PLAN**

 **IT'S EMBARRASSING AND RISKY**

 **I DON'T TRUST HER AT ALL**

 **WE BARELY KNOW HER**

 **SHE COULD RUIN MY REPUTATION**

 **SHE'S AN ENEMY SPY**

 **YOU'LL NEED TO BE**

 **WATCHING HER CONSTANTLY**

 **WE'LL NEED TO TEACH HER**

 **IN A VERY VERY SHORT AMOUNT OF TIME**

 **AND I THINK THIS ONLY DELAYS THE INEVITABLE.**

She turned to look at Toothless. " _What do you think about all this?_

He stared at her. " _I think you're both crazy. But I trust Hiccup, and so it's up to you. I'm not helping you with this one,_ _though, so good luck_." She sighed. He was right, of course - they were both absolutely crazy for even _thinking_ of doing this. The sheer fact that Hiccup even _thought_ to suggest this only moments after he had found her was mad in itself. Overall, the very notion of what they were about to do was quite possibly the most harebrained of all.

She turned to look at the girl, then back to Hiccup and Toothless.

 **LET'S DO IT.**

Hiccup nodded, and took a breath, then turned around to look at Syl.

Her eyes flicked up to him, defensive. "So am I finally going to hear this big plan for me you have in store? Because I swear to the Gods if you turn me in I will run straight back to my island."

Hiccup sighed, then began to pull something out of his pack. "It's not like that. Though… You will have to go into the village. For quite a while actually. And, well…" He finished unpacking it, and threw the bag on the ground.

In his hand, he held a crisply folded blue tunic, a leather-and-iron circlet, two steel shoulder pads, a spiked-skirt, a skull-encrusted belt, some cloth strips, a pair of boots… And her axe. He held it out to Syl.

"Uh…" She looked up at him, confused. "What's this?"

"Oh," Hiccup replied, smiling sheepishly. "It's just your clothes..."

She couldn't help but squeeze her eyes shut at the next part.

"... Astrid."


	8. The Agreement - Pt 1

**Greetings, my friends.**

 **Getting past that oddly formal welcome, I had originally planned to do a long foreword here about** _ **why**_ **I chose to take the story in this direction, but instead I figured my big mouth and I would probably end up spoiling what I have in mind for the story, and so I've decided to hold off, at least for now. I'll probably explain some in the next chapter, or at the end of this one, depending on how things go.**

 **So overall, that paragraph was absolutely pointless, and I have no idea why I wrote it. I suppose just to keep those of you who are likely having some doubts about this tuned in, to establish where exactly this story might go, and hopefully keep it interesting.**

 **This chapter is probably going to be a bit shorter than the last few, and I'm going to consider it a 'part one' of two, as I've been terrible about uploading on time lately, and wanted to pay it back to all of you loyal readers, somehow. Finals are also a thing right now, so I have to get through those before I can think about anything else. Anyways, be sure to comment, follow, favorite and enjoy this chapter! (Don't be cynical like me - it sucks and distracts you from the important things in life!)**

 **How to Train Your Dragon is the property of Dreamworks Animation SKG, Inc.**

* * *

"NO! No, no, no _NO!"_ Syl crossed her arms over her chest defiantly, turning her nose up to the sky.

Hiccup stared at her, almost amused. "I… I haven't even explained yet…"

"I already know what you're thinking," Syl cut off his attempts at speech off with a wave of her hand. "And I refuse to do it. There is no way I'm impersonating your dragon-riding, crazy, warrior girlfriend - that is _way_ out of my comfort zone."

"She's not…" Hiccup began, then saw both Toothless _and_ Astrid raise an eyebrow. He sighed. "You said you wanted to 'join our side', didn't you? You said that you thought dragons-"

"I LIED!" She yelled at him, calming down only a moment later. "I… I lied. I didn't run away from my tribe, alright? They… They sent me to spy on your Chief - your father, I mean - and I overheard you talking when you came out of the Great Hall. I… I thought that maybe, if I… If I... Killed you, If I took down the mighty 'dragon conqueror', maybe I would start to get noticed in my tribe, maybe I'd be important… But I was wrong. My mother had Bjarke, who was _supposed_ to be on my side, abandon me when I reported back to them. I… I tried, but… Well, I guess my Mom just hated me. She must've hated me a lot… Anyways, I'm stuck here, and, well, let's just say I'm pretty sure nobody's coming back for me, alright? That's the whole truth - you've heard it, now. I don't _like_ either of you, and I _especially HATE_ dragons, alright?!" She pointed at Toothless, accusingly, before moving her finger to Stormfly. "Your kind _killed_ my brother, and drove my father _insane!_ And now your tribe goes flying around on them like they never did anything wrong! Don't you have any _common sense?!_ These… _Beasts,_ they kill people! They might seem nice now, but someday you'll see, when it comes down to the line, they'll turn on you, on _us!"_ She wheezed out the last line.

Hiccup stared at her for a moment, astonished, but Astrid smiled slyly, a gleam in her eye as though she had just proven something. "You… Your mother just… Left you here?" He asked carefully.

"Well…" Syl started, "It wasn't actually my mother. It was just who she sent over here with me. Apparently she and the rest of my island had been planning to abandon me here from the start, so…"

Hiccup continued to stare at her, his mouth agape. "She didn't even do it herself? That's… That's cold, and… Dishonorable! I can't believe she would do that - it doesn't seem like… Like…" His voice trailed off, and he frowned.

Syl rolled her eyes. "Well, you don't know my mother. I thought I did, but…" She looked away.

They all stood there in silence for a moment, each waiting for another to speak up. Eventually, it was Hiccup who did. "So… That's it? You're just stuck here, now? That's why you've followed us so far?" Syl continued to stare down at the village, not answering.

Hiccup sighed, and followed her gaze. Though it was hard to make out details hundreds of feet in the air, it was quite obvious that the village was alive and bustling, even after dusk. After the storm from the night before, many families had likely spent the day either rebuilding their houses in the village, or helping with others - something they had become more or less accustomed to, after years of dragon raids. Though even then, it was obvious that the village had undergone some major in the past few years - a nadder was jumping on a roof with a pile of wood in its mouth, a nightmare was carrying two large stones on its back up near the Great hall, along with a few others next to it. A few years before then, that many dragons in the village would no doubt mean a raid was taking place - and a fierce one, at that - but now it was just as normal as anything else.

From the East, Hiccup noticed a large company descending from the hills, carrying torches and swords in their hands. Leading them were two husky men, whom, even from Gothi's house, Hiccup could tell were weary beyond hope. He knew they must've been out searching for them and any others who went missing all day, and it pained him to think about it, as he knew exactly who it was. _Dad…_ Hiccup thought to himself. _I'll be back soon, I just… I need to do this first. I know you'll hate me for this if you find out, and I know I should probably just tell you right now - if Gothi can't find a solution, you might be the only other person on this island who can… But I need to try. I want to fix this, without conflict, without Mildew, or Dagur, or… I just need to try._

A heavy mist was slowly settling over the island, concealing the village's features - but the light from the houses still shone up through the fog, giving the homes an oddly frosted look. As he watched, Hiccup's father, along with the rest of the group, slowly descended down into the village, fading into just another part of the smog.

He turned back to Syl.

"So…" He began carefully. "Do… Do you really hate me, and Toothless? I mean, I know you guys like your ways and all, but-"

"They killed my brother!" She yelled, startling him. "These… _Dragons,_ these beasts, these things you call pets, they… They _murdered_ him, they drove my father completely mad, until one day he sailed off into the ocean, and…" Her voice trailed off, and she settled for staring accusingly at Toothless. "Maybe I shouldn't hate you - maybe you're alright, I guess. You don't seem evil, and… Well, you haven't turned me over to your father… Not that I'm saying 'yes' to your stupid plan, but…" She ground her teeth together and squeezed her eyes shut, before opening them again. "I… You can't trust those things - they're going to turn on us, I know it - someday… Someday you'll realize. Maybe I don't want to kill you, alright? But these _dragons_ that you devote yourself to protecting? That's sick - you need to realize that, along with the rest of your barbaric tribe."

Hiccup stared at her. He had fought in arguments with people like this before - many had lost their relatives in the war, after all - but this case was obviously different; Hiccup could _not_ afford to lose. If he did, and Syl refused to help them - they obviously couldn't _force_ her to, and Hiccup would never resort to that - they would have to confront his father, who would have no choice but to reveal the truth to the rest of the Village. From there, he didn't know what would happen - it was likely that they would accept Astrid and help her live as normal a life in the village as she could until they could change her back, but it seemed even _more_ likely that conflict would arise thanks to the _wonderful_ morale-boosters in the Village, like Mildew and his cronies. He could already see their argument - a boy who's become _obsessed_ with his pet Night Fury lures his innocent girlfriend out into the forest just before the largest storm Berk has ever seen, and returns two days later with her fully transformed into their worst enemy. Of course, some of those facts seemed stretched, but Hiccup knew that by just pulling a few strings, someone like Mildew could throw the island into a war, even with the tribal situations as tense as they already were.

There was always the option to just keep Astrid hidden somewhere and pretend she went missing, of course, but that would no doubt have its consequences, eventually: if he said she was dead, they would ask where her body was, if he said she was missing, they would send out search parties to find her - it was a miracle they hadn't found any of them that day already, leading Hiccup to wonder where exactly they were looking.

He thought about what he was about to do for a moment - it was something he hadn't wanted to bring up, and hadn't in a very long time, but it was essential to not only him, but the entire village, as well. Everyone in the village knew Astrid, and every day they were missing, Hiccup knew his father would send out more and more people to find them, and become more and more suspicious of neighboring tribes - after all, how could two teens with _dragons_ be so hard to find? And _that_ was why he needed to do this right away.

"Syl?" Still glaring, she raised an eyebrow at him.

"What?"

"Can I, uh, talk to you? Just give me five minutes - that's all I'm asking. We can leave the dragons out here, alright? And, uh, Astrid, too. If I can't convince you, you're… Well, you're free to go. I don't know where, but… Well, I'm sure you'll figure it out. Just meet me out in front of the house when you're ready." Hiccup spun around and walked back into the hut, but managed to hear her mumble behind him, "... More of a _command_ than a _question…_ "

* * *

After a few minutes, Astrid watched Syl finally walk into the hut and out of the front door, sullen, leaving the three of them out on the platform.

She turned to the Night Fury.

" _Toothless?"_

" _Hm?"_

She thought for a moment, before asking, " _Why do you think she's helping us?"_

" _Well,"_ He responded, " _we don't know if she's helping us YET. She could just decide to run off-"_

Rolling her eyes, Astrid cut him off. " _You know what I mean! Why is she still here - what made her come here with Hiccup, anyways? I know she doesn't really have anywhere to go right now, but… Well, it seems like she probably could have survived pretty well on the island for a little while, maybe even gotten somewhere that'll accept her - so why did she come with us? I don't think she feels guilty about anything - she HATES us, and she's probably glad that all this happened, so… Why is she still here if she DOESN'T want to help us? I don't think she lied, either, but… I can't think of any other explanation."_

Toothless stared down at the village and didn't respond, as though he hadn't even noticed her reply.

" _... Toothless?"_ She asked after a moment, worried.

" _Wha? Sorry, I was just… Thinking._ " He shook his head and looked at her, sleepily. " _I don't know, Astrid. Maybe she is lying, but… I know what you mean - there's something about her. I don't think she is, either. As to why she's come this far, but doesn't want to help, now? Well, you have to admit - neither of you told her about what you wanted her to do, and it is kind of crazy. The last time you tried-"_

" _I don't want to talk about it."_ Astrid cut him off quickly, moving her eyes to her feet - her _paws_. " _To think that she'll have to go through that, with MY parents, with my Village - I'm sure it's just as terrifying a concept for her as it is for me. But Hiccup's right - we're limited on options here, and I can't just hide in the forest, at least not without knowing that I'm not constantly being searched for."_

Toothless nodded. While it was still awkward for her to think how much easier it had become to talk to Toothless, and how human-like he sounded, she knew he had always been like that, which made it easier for her to accept it. Still, Syl's voice from earlier - the voice she had heard many, many times from Vikings like Mildew and Brenna, - still resonated in her head. To think that just a few years before, they had been at each other's throats - Astrid would have done _anything_ to kill the Night Fury that had been the demise of hundreds of towers, and even Vikings before the war ended. At a few points in time, even in the past several months, Astrid had found herself having sudden, small bouts of _anger_ towards Hiccup, wishing he had killed it, once and for all. Of course, that had been before - she had no doubt that Hiccup's decision had been the right one. Toothless was just as much of a person as anyone else, and, despite his fresh sarcasm and teasing, he had been nicer to her in the past day than almost anyone else she knew in the Village. The side of herself she had let show that day was weak, and frail - something she hadn't experienced in a very long time. Yet Toothless had been there, supported her, and had helped her adjust at least _somewhat_ to what had happened. He wasn't just a dragon, nor a Night Fury - he was a friend. She only hoped that, in time, Syl would see that, as well.

* * *

As he had promised, Hiccup and Syl emerged from the hut just a few minutes later, he looking tired, and she still concerningly bitter. Hiccup went to stand next to Astrid, but Syl still hovered by the door, eyeing them nervously.

"... Well?" Hiccup asked.

Syl looked at Hiccup, then at Stormfly, then back at Hiccup.

" _One day_ ," she replied. "I'll… _Try_ this stupid plan of yours for one day. Then, I'll… Well, we'll see, I guess. But just one day - _that's it._ Don't think this is permanent, or anything - I'm just doing this until I can find a way out of here. Meet me out front when you're ready." With that, she stormed back through the hut, causing Astrid to raise an eyebrow at Hiccup.

He shrugged and sighed. "I'll explain later - it's all we can get from her for now, and honestly, it's a lot more than I expected - I'm surprised we've gotten this far, already - but we still have a lot of work to do."

She bent her head down to the ground and wrote in the dirt.

 **I HOPE YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING**

 **WHAT WE'RE DOING**

 **I STILL DON'T TRUST THIS GIRL**

 **AND I DON'T THINK SHE CAN BE READY TO DO THIS IN TIME**

 **BUT**

 **I'M TRUSTING YOU, HICCUP**

 **DON'T LET ME DOWN**

He nodded slowly, before running back out through the door. Suddenly realizing what she would have to do _again,_ Astrid stared up at the roof of the hut, horrified, before turning back to Toothless. He grinned, and gracefully jumped onto the roof of the house, disappearing down over the other side a moment later. Taking a deep breath beforehand, Astrid closed her eyes and leaped as high as she could.

Once she got over to the other side, which wasn't what one might call "graceful", but still less disastrous than the last time, she found Hiccup and Syl talking to each other like they had been friends for years, leading her to wonder just what exactly he had said to her. Toothless and Stormfly had learned to keep their distance by then, and thus settled for wandering around down the main path. Astrid, on the other hand, decided Syl should probably get _comfortable_ with her around, as they would have a lot to go over. Thus, she stuck her head right in between the two of them, startling her, but making Hiccup smile. Astrid expected her to just back away instinctively, but instead, she just folded her arms across her chest and rolled her eyes in disgust.

 _Well,_ Astrid thought, _It's SOME progress, at least._

"Well, before we get started," Hiccup began, "We're going to need somewhere to, uh, train you, in how Astrid… _Is,_ I guess. Well, not only that, but everyone else in the village, where she goes, uh… This might be harder than I thought." He frowned for a moment, thinking, before shaking his head. "Anyways, like I said, we're going to need somewhere that Astrid can hide, and that we can make sure you're ready for, well, your 'introduction' to the village." He turned to Astrid, and smiled slyly. "And I know just the place."

* * *

"It seems kind of ironic, doesn't it?" Hiccup asked Astrid. They had left Gothi's over an hour before, the healer giving Hiccup a bowl of yellow powder for her hair, along with a small vial of a red liquid, whose purpose Astrid had no idea of. They had taken the back way down the mountain, Hiccup still paranoid about being seen, despite the fact that it was nearing midnight. They had just gotten back under the safe canopy of trees in the forest when Hiccup decided it would be a great idea to start talking.

"You know, I used to come see Toothless down here every day - we haven't been down in a while, actually. But this is kind of cool because it's a different kind of… Training, I guess. But this time, you're a-"

She growled at him, trying to warn him that he was about to cross a line. Luckily, he received the message, but she still heard him mumble, "Well it _is_ a nice place…" Before shutting up for the rest of the walk.

The sun was just beginning to rise when they finally reached it.

Astrid had to admit something - it _was_ nice. Aside from the beautifully stunning waterfall, lake and river in the gorge, along with its other features, nobody had ever found it - the land sloped up around it, suggesting a small hill on top, where instead there was a deep ravine. The entire place was also surrounded by trees, and the general area in a heavy fog year round, making everything in the area nearly impossible to see on its own. Whilst it did seem rather odd that no one else ever seemed to have been there, it was easy enough to understand why. Astrid herself had only found it by following Hiccup, and even then she had almost gotten lost. In fact, she was surprised he could still find it even then, as it had been years since they had last gone there.

Syl approached the ledge, peering down into the gorge. "So… This is where you're hiding out? Well, have fun down there - looks pretty muddy to me."

Astrid realized she was right - a few of the walls in the ravine had collapsed, letting rainwater seep into the gorge, pulling dirt along with it. The normally dry ground inside looked incredibly muddy, and the opening Hiccup had used to get to the bottom had collapsed inwards, as well.

Hiccup seemed to notice it, as well. "Huh," he began, looking around for another entrance. When he didn't find one, he gestured at Stormfly to walk over to them. "Well, Syl, I think it's time for your first lesson."

The spy's eyes widened as she realized what he was suggesting. "Wha- What?! Why do I have to do this now?! Couldn't we just find somewhere else?" Hiccup looked at her.

"This is the best place on the island for us to hide - at least for a Night Fury. I did it for a few months. There isn't anywhere else on the island we could go, not that we know is safe - believe me, I've checked. It has to be here. Besides, you _need_ to start flying some time - we only have two days to do this."

"Why two days?!" Syl demanded.

"Because I can't-!" Hiccup's voice cut off mid-sentence. He frowned. "I… It's complicated. I know I'm not making a ton of sense, but… This is the most important part - I know you're afraid of dragons, but… Please, it's only down into the ravine. That's all, and I'll be on Stormfly, too. Alright?"

Glaring at him, she slowly walked over to Stormfly, stopping less than ten feet in front of her. Hiccup passed her, and climbed onto the nadder's saddle. He held out a hand to the girl, and Astrid suddenly felt an odd pang of jealousy.

"Hop on," Hiccup said, smiling. Grudgingly, Syl took his hand, and slowly climbed on, keeping her eyes locked on the dragon's head throughout. As she settled onto the saddle, Astrid heard her mutter, "... Least it's a better name than _Toothless…_ "

"Alright, Stormfly," Hiccup told her, "bring us down."

Astrid heard Syl yelp as Stormfly lifted off into the air, her powerful wings pushing huge gusts of air into the ground below. After climbing a few feet into the air, Stormfly gracefully swooped down, and landed on the ground ever-so-gracefully, just in time for Syl to stumble off, kneel down on the ground, and very nearly puke.

That was when Astrid realized - she didn't know how to get down, either.

" _Uh, Toothless?"_

" _Hmm? Oh - right. Well, you could try just, uh…"_ At that, he suddenly turned to the cliff, spread his wings, jumped over the ledge and glided down easily to the bottom, if not quite as gracefully as Stormfly.

She glared down at him. What did he expect her to do - fly down?

In fact, that was _exactly_ what she expected her to do, though she wasn't willing to admit it.

Cursing to herself, she slowly put a foot over the ledge, searching for a smaller platform to grab on to. Luckily, she found one, and immediately grasped it as hard as she could, her talons extending to the fullest.

 _There,_ she thought to herself, reaching her next paw over the ledge. _That wasn't so-_

Then the entire world flipped upside-down.

She found herself suddenly tumbling down the side of the cliff, feeling as though every rock and branch were out to get her as she slammed against the rock. Halfway down, she was finally able to get herself right-side-up, and her wings flared out instinctively. And then she was airborne. She screeched as she sailed out over the ravine, desperately flapping her wings, and flailing her limbs before finally crashing into the lake. She thought she could make out Hiccup calling her name, but the water was rushing into her ears and mouth too fast for her to focus, and she desperately tried to get her head above water, but she only felt that she was sinking, drowning, and then everything went black.


	9. The Agreement - Pt 2

**Hey, everyone. Know what it is? IT'S SUMMER! Which means more content from me! Though this one** **is, unfortunately, a day late - sorry about that.**

 **Anyways, this is the 'part two' of chapter 8, which is technically chapter 9, and I realize that I'm going to go off on an explanation tangent here if I don't move on.**

 **The whole 'new era' thing that I was talking about one or two chapters ago was mainly based around the idea that I'll have more time to write now that I'm on break, which is true, to an extent, though obviously I still don't have** _ **all**_ **the time in the world. That's all I wanted to say on that.**

 **Not much else to say about this chapter, so I hope you all enjoy!**

 **By the way - feel free to ask questions in the comment section! PM me if you want, but otherwise I'll probably answer it in the foreword of the next chapter - I won't be giving away any spoilers, though! Also, whilst I understand my logic in this story could be a bit flawed at some points, and my explanations scarce, if you see any really obvious plot holes that you think I missed, please tell me! I'd like to know whose viewpoints in the story you most enjoy, as well. I try to keep it fairly balanced, though there are points in the story that more or less demand a specific person's view and opinion on the situation.**

 **Also, if it wasn't clear,**

"Human talk"

" _Night Fury-Dragon thought/speak"_

 **WRITTEN COMMUNICATION BETWEEN CHARACTERS**

 **I don't own How to Train Your Dragon.**

* * *

Astrid was unaccustomed to dreams.

She would have them occasionally, of course - the few she could remember at that age tended to be the nightmares that seemed all too real - many of them featured Hiccup dying, or her straps breaking on Stormfly hundreds of feet above Berk, sending her falling, and falling, helpless, until she woke up in her room in a cold sweat, running outside in just a blouse and her skirt to throw axes at trees in the woods, until the sun came up and people started looking for her. Some were even set before the war ended - she would find herself trapped in a burning building, carried away be a Monstrous Nightmare, or frozen like her uncle had been years ago… They all seemed far too realistic, as though each had happened to her in her life at one point - sometimes she even caught herself saying they did. She had certainly _seen_ those things happen to plenty of people, but she knew she would never understand what it was like until it happened to her. Thanks to Hiccup, she would hopefully never have to.

The dreams where he died… She didn't even want to think about. Whenever she had one, she would rush over to his house as soon as she woke up, marching into his room and past Toothless, who would glare at her but wouldn't react, and shake Hiccup until he woke up. It rarely took less than an hour of him reassuring her to prove that he was alive, followed by another hour of her making him promise that he wouldn't die on her - after all, she would kill him if he did.

But this time, her dream didn't feel like a nightmare at all. In fact, in this dream, she felt completely calm and almost _happy_ with what was happening. But later on, she decided that _that_ was the terrifying part about it.

Her eyes snapped open, and she found herself in a cave - it wasn't a matter of being able to _see_ she where she was, so much as her _awareness_ of it - she knew where she was because she couldn't be anywhere else. In fact, she felt completely at home in the cave - as though she had lived in the entire life, and knew every corner of it. Ahead of her, a small point of light could barely be seen, but she moved toward it nonetheless. _Something_ told her it was daylight, and as the brightness filled her vision, she realized she was right.

Her eyes were met with the sight of a huge bay in the middle of a valley surrounded by gigantic mountains, each mile high, which stretched out into the ocean on the opposite end, and narrowed to a tall mountain on the end she was looking out from. At thin, narrow waterfall ran down the mountain to Astrid's right, running down to a river a few hundred feet below. The land around the cove was covered with pine trees, many running halfway up the surrounding mountains before it turned into stone. A small something inside of her told her she had never been here before, and yet, she got the even more overpowering feeling that she had been here almost her entire life.

Out to sea, she could make out a faint black dot a hundred feet above the water, approaching at a rapid and yet leisurely pace. As the dot moved further , she could start to make out its features, yet she already knew who it was - it was Toothless, her… What was he to her? What she was about to say made perfect sense, and yet somehow, something about it seemed… _Wrong._ Either way, he was home, hopefully with food for her and…. Her and _who?_

Gracefully, he landed on the small outcropping of rock in front of the cave and spat out a pile of fish in front of her. "Toothless," She asked, glancing once at his back. "Where's Hiccup?"

The dragon stared at her for a moment, concerned, before telling her, "Hiccup's been gone for years, my other. Are you feeling alright?"

She frowned. Of course - why had she asked such a stupid question? It had been years since she had seen him last… Hadn't it?

Toothless shrugged. "I'm telling you - you spend far too much time in that cave. We're safe out here - there isn't anyone else around for miles. You don't have to hide from anyone anymore. Why don't we go flying after the children eat? You haven't been out in… Well, it's been months, hasn't it? You can't stay in the dark with them forever."

She blinked. "The ch-"

Suddenly, she was quite nearly knocked over, as three tiny bodies came darting out of the cave behind her, rushing to the pile of fish, and plunging their faces in. She couldn't help but feel startled, and confused looking at them - these were her children, weren't they? She had raised them since birth. Yet once again, she had that same feeling that something was… _Wrong._ That this wasn't right.

Swallowing a fish in a single gulp, one of the baby Night Furies turned its head up to her, grinning. "Look, mama!" He told her. "Look what papa taught us!" It turned back to the others and nodded for them to follow. They walked up to the ledge, excitedly.

Astrid looked up at Toothless, shocked, but he only smiled down at the younglings. They pawed the edge, anxious. Her eyes widened.

 _No…_ She thought. _No! They're not ready!_

They jumped.

She ran up to the ledge a moment later and whipped her head around to Toothless. "They weren't ready!" She screeched at him.

He shrugged and smiled at her, then walked up to the edge, and pointed down with a claw. "I don't think you're giving them enough credit," he told her.

Terrified, she walked up to the ledge and watched as one of them struggled to open his wings, then another. Both of them slowly stopped falling, gliding to a nearby ledge and landing on all fours. The third one, however, the one who had been talking to her a moment ago, did not open his wings. Instead, he kept tumbling downwards, parallel with the nearly vertical cliff face, flailing his limbs, and screeching for help.

Astrid's eyes widened, and she jumped off of the cliff, trying to aim towards her child. _They're not ready!_ She thought desperately, as though it would stop her child from plummeting through the air.

She dived down the mountain, the wind whistling behind her ears, the whole world rushing up past her. But all she could see was the small black ball hurling down the mountain, flailing its arms and screeching. She kept getting closer, and closer…

She caught it. She felt her paws take on a bit of weight as they collided with her child, and she clung to it. Relieved, she tried to spread her wings out, only to find that they wouldn't work - they were lifeless, stuck to her body like useless ornaments.

Terrified, she turned her head down to look at her child - she wanted it to be the last thing she saw if that was how she would die.

Instead, she found Hiccup.

He rested in her arms, and looked weary, and frail, as though he had just barely survived a long battle. He smiled up at her weakly. Five words escaped his lips, like the last wisps of smoke from a dying fire. "It's… Okay, Astrid," He told her. She felt tears run up the side of her face, though she didn't realize it. In that moment, it was just her, and him. A small stream of blood streamed out of his lips, as he gasped out two last words. "I'm… Sorry."

And then his eyes closed, and his head collapsed over her paw, lifeless.  
Then, there was nothing. The world disappeared, and the cove, Toothless, her children, and Hiccup were gone. And she was still falling… Falling...

It felt as though an eternity had passed before she heard a voice. It was small, and faint, but seemed to get louder as she continued to fall through an endless, black void.

"Astrid." The voice called out her name, and repeated it again, then again. She closed her eyes.

"Astrid."

"Astrid."

"Astrid!"

" _Astrid!"_

" _Astrid!"_

" _Astrid, wake up! Don't die on us yet!"_ She realized whose voice it was. Could it be? Had he come back to rescue her? But wait…

Her eyes snapped open and were met with the face of a very concerned and angry looking Night Fury, outlined by the sun. Seeing that she had woken up, he slowly backed off of her, apprehensive. She coughed.

"Phew!" Hiccup ran up to her, grinning with relief. "I thought I'd lost you for a moment. Gods, I don't know what I'd-" Frightened, she leaped up, knocking him over, and bolted off toward the small forest in the gorge, wanting to get away from them all, away from _him,_ as much as anything.

She dashed under the pines, feeling her tail whip against the underbrush, crushing the smaller trees and bushes beneath it. She was aware of feeling wet all over, though she couldn't recall why. She kept running, as though in a trance, her body carrying her forward as she tried to process what had happened, until she nearly smacked her head against a stone wall - she had reached the end of the gorge.

Evaluating it for only a moment, she jumped up and tried to grab onto a small ledge running along about eight feet above the ground. Luckily, she made it high enough, but she misjudged her weight and ended up slamming wings-first against the rock, tumbling back down to the ground a moment later, dazed.

Admitting defeat, she lay there on the ground and curled herself up in the tightest ball she could, trying to hold back tears.

It took less than a minute for her to hear Hiccup's voice calling out for her, as well as Toothless's in her mind. The dragon found her first, with Hiccup trailing behind.

Hiccup ran up to her, breathing heavily - he wasn't used to running. "Astrid… You… Run into… Why… You okay?" She didn't respond.

She heard Toothless creep up to her a moment later. " _... Astrid?"_

" _Go away."_

" _But I don't-"_

" _I said go away!"_ She snarled at him, starting to unravel from the ball she had rolled herself in, before curling back into it a moment later, still keeping an eye on the two of them - Syl apparently hadn't followed, or at least wasn't letting herself be seen.

She watched as Toothless glanced at Hiccup as if questioning why he even bothered with her, then padded off into the forest the way he had come. Hiccup looked as though he wanted to follow for a moment, but, after taking a deep breath, sat down beside her instead. Still, she didn't respond.

They waited in silence. A minute passed. Then another. Astrid pricked her ears up - a trick Toothless had taught her when Hiccup had gone back to the trap the day before - and listened for the sound of feet in the brush, or a rustle of leaves - any sign that Syl might be listening to them. When she heard nothing, she laid her head back down, and the silence and tranquility of the forest returned.

Gathering his courage, Hiccup spoke. "Astrid, I…" He sucked in his breath. "I know this is hard and all, and I understand that you don't like someone, someone like Syl, especially, to… _Impersonate_ you, but we need to… Need to..." His voice trailed off, as he tried to think of what to say. Sighing, she wrote a message for him in the dirt.

 **I HAD A DREAM**

Hiccup looked back up at her, raising an eyebrow. "You had a… A dream? What about?"

She thought for a moment, trying to remember the details - the memory was already fading in her mind, but she knew it had been terrible.

 **IT WAS ABOUT ME**

 **AS A DRAGON**

Hiccup nodded, urging her to go on.

 **I WAS IN A CAVE I THINK**

 **THERE WAS THE OCEAN**

 **AND A BIG COVE SURROUNDED BY MOUNTAINS**

 **TOOTHLESS WAS THERE**

 **YOU WERE GONE**

 **YOU HAD BEEN GONE FOR YEARS**

 **TOOTHLESS AND I WERE**

She lifted her claw, hesitant. _It was only a dream,_ She told herself. _Hiccup is here, now - he's still alive, and I can talk to him about this._

He stared at her, and she could tell he already knew what she was about to tell him. She took a breath, and looked up at him, then continued writing.

 **WE WERE MATES, I THINK**

 **WE HAD CHILDREN**

 **THREE BABY NIGHT FURIES**

 **THEY ALL JUMPED OFF THE CLIFF**

 **TWO OF THEM OPENED THEIR WINGS AND LANDED**

 **BUT THE THIRD ONE**

 **KEPT FALLING**

 **AND FALLING**

 **I DOVE DOWN TO GET HIM**

 **I CAUGHT HIM**

 **BUT**

She lifted her paw up before continuing, hesitant. Hiccup wasn't the kind to be _scared_ of dreams - at least, not anymore. But something told her that she shouldn't tell him what she had seen after she caught… _Him,_ though she didn't know why.

 **I CAUGHT HIM**

 **BUT THEN I JUST KEPT FALLING**

 **AND FALLING**

 **AND**

She frowned, trying to remember.

 **AND THEN I WOKE UP, I THINK**

There was another moment of silence, as they both sat there, thinking.

"Well," Hiccup replied, "That… That's a lot to take in. I… I'm not sure what it means, but…"

 **DO YOU THINK IT WAS A VISION?**

Hiccup shook his head. "No, it was just a dream. I'm sorry it scared you, Astrid, but… Well, it was just that - a dream. Nothing more, nothing less. But if it was a vision of the future or at least a potential one… Well, that's all the more reason to change you back as soon as possible."

He got up to leave, and Astrid growled at him, squeezing her eyes shut for a moment once she did - it had come out a bit more aggressive than she had intended. Hiccup looked down at her, startled.

 **HICCUP**

She looked down, slightly ashamed. While there was no way she was going to admit that she was scared, she wasn't ready to face Toothless again, or at least not yet.

 **COULD YOU STAY HERE FOR A MOMENT?**

His eyes widened, but he sat back down next to her, crossing his legs.

A strong wind blew through the forest, making several leaves fly off of their branches, cascading to the muddy ground around her. The thunderstorm from the night before would be the last one Berk saw for a while, she knew - winter would be setting in soon, and the ground would begin to freeze and frost over in the mornings, painting the grass a pale whitish-gray, not too unlike her newfound scales.

If she was to remain as a dragon into the winter… She wasn't sure what she would do. They might have to reveal their plan to the village - assuming it worked - and in the midst of the coldest and driest season on Berk, she knew that they would already have enough problems on their hands, without a dragon girl's mouth to feed, as well.

She looked down at Hiccup, who had inched closer to her since he had sat back down. She realized what he was trying to do - it was awkward, and seemed kind of odd, but she decided that she may as well seize the opportunity, too, if only just this once.

Slowly, she uncurled her body from the odd-shaped ball she had tried to roll herself into and exposed her left side to Hiccup. Her wings had folded to her back at some point - likely after she had woken up - and her tail unraveled as soon as she had moved. Smiling sheepishly, Hiccup crawled over to her, nestling himself in the small gap between her front leg and her side that he had rested in with Toothless dozens of times before.

As he sat down, she came to realize how ridiculously _powerful_ she really was. She had been strong and tall for her age before, she knew that, but even recently Hiccup had begun to sprout up past her, and even grow a few muscles - something she had known would happen to him eventually, but still surprised her nonetheless. But now, here, sitting in the crook of her arm, she realized how much power a dragon really had, not even counting their wings or firepower. There, squeezed comfortably against her side and leg, all Astrid would have to do was move her leg ever so slightly inward, and she could crush him. She could barely even feel him sitting there at all - she might not even notice if she did. It was a terrifying thought, and she knew she would never do that, yet still… A small, animalistic part of her grinned from the rush of power she got from it, from the idea that humans could be so small, so weak, so fragile, and even question why they had ever thought to fight dragons… She was small, too, compared to other dragons - she could only imagine if she were as large as a Nightmare, or a Nadder! She would be _invincible._

But of course, that was not true - she knew that all dragons had their weak spots, and thus she probably wasn't _quite_ as powerful as she believed. Still, she realized how much Hiccup really trusted her - putting his life on the line just to sit with her, in a rare moment of peace.

"It's kind of odd, isn't it?" Hiccup suddenly broke the silence. She turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow. He had his hands behind his head, relaxed, and looked up at the trees, in deep but light-hearted thought.

"I mean, I always thought I would be the one that became a dragon - especially a Night Fury. I mean, I never expected this to happen to anyone at all! But, you know, with Toothless and I, I just thought… Well, I just didn't expect this to happen."

She nodded - it did seem odd that she would have this happen to her. After all, Toothless herself had told her that Hiccup was considered by _other dragons_ to be more dragon than he was human sometimes, and she didn't have a hard time believing it. His whole life, he had been an outcast in their village, but when he was around dragons, he acted like he had lived with them forever, and in a way, he had. He had been the first to shoot down a Night Fury, and first to train one, or any dragon at all - in the odd, crazy world they seemed to be living with, it would almost make more sense if he had somehow been turned into a dragon. He might've, as well - Syl did say the trap was originally intended for him. But then again, none of them were sure _what_ had turned her into one, and Gothi hadn't offered much advice, either.

She looked back at him. He was trying to hold back a smile, and looking at the ground, as though he didn't want to look at her. It was obvious there was something he wanted to ask her.

She rolled her eyes, and wrote out in front of him,

 **ALRIGHT, HICCUP**

 **I KNOW YOU HAVE A TON OF QUESTIONS**

 **ABOUT ME AS A NIGHT FURY,**

 **AND SINCE WE HAVE A BIT OF TIME**

 **I GUESS**

She never got to finish writing her sentence. He jumped out of his spot and turned to face her, grinning.

"What is your sight like? Can you see sound or anything like that? How do your ears work? Wait, no, how do your teeth work?! Can you hear things from farther away than humans? Oh! How do you talk to Toothless? Are you in each other's minds or something? Can you feel a fire in your stomach? Or is it an acid? Do you have more than one heart? Well, that's a stupid question. How would you tell? Well, of course, the Book of Dragons stated that..."

Astrid groaned, and her head fell to the ground. _Me and my big claw…_ She thought to herself.

Syl still wasn't sure why she had stayed back by the lake. But then again, she wasn't even sure why she had agreed to the two dragon-lovers' crazy plan.

The Nadder had flown off to Gods knew where soon after Astrid had run into the forest, which Syl couldn't help find odd, given that they had seemed relatively close when she was still human. But who knew? Maybe the dragon had forgotten that Astrid was even human in the first place.

As the Night Fury and Hiccup had chosen to follow Astrid into the forest a moment after she ran in, she had been left alone in the muddy clearing, the waterfall rushing into the lake just behind her. Of all the opportunities to run away, she knew, this would be the best yet - nobody was watching her, and whilst she knew that Hiccup had offered to let her run away earlier, she had still been apprehensive of the fact that the boy could seemingly call his dragon to him at any time. A Night Fury, of all things - she certainly couldn't outrun in, never mind the possibility of having to fight it. But then again, he seemed to trust her enough to leave her alone, even then, so perhaps she should've repaid him by fulfilling his expectations, if just this once…

But then again, why should she? She didn't owe _him_ anything. And from what she had heard, the girl didn't seem too keen on their plan, either - so why should she stay? She knew she could probably make it if she went out on her own - she figured she knew which berries to eat, and with some practice, could probably even make a fire. Given some time, she could probably even find a way off the island.

With a bit of newfound confidence, she slowly got up, crept over to Hiccup's pack to look for anything she could use, and was about to start searching for a ledge to climb in the gorge, before she heard a rustling in the brush behind her, followed by a low growl that sent shivers up her spine. She sucked in her breath and turned around, expecting the worst.

Out of the forest emerged the Night Fury, black as ebony, with a fierce snarl on its maw that made the hairs on Syl's arms stand up. Its teeth were as white as pearls and sharp as knives, she knew, with eyes so filled with energy and hatred they were almost hypnotizing. Ever so slowly, keeping her eyes locked on the beast throughout, she placed the food and water she'd taken from Hiccup's pack on the ground, and backed away from it, moving her hand to the small kitchen knife sheathed at her side.

After glaring at her venomously for a moment, the dragon slinked over to the lake. Startling her, it then proceeded to burn a ring of grass around itself, sending a bit of smoke up into the air for a moment, before lying on the ground with a soft groan, and closing its eyes.

Syl let out her breath, which she hadn't realized she had been holding in, and slowly sat down, as well. Glancing up to the dragon every few seconds, she took a small whetstone out of her back pocket and began to sharpen her knife.

Though she tried not to, she couldn't help but stare up at the black creature with an intense loathing. It was only a moment later that she realized she had been biting down on her lip so hard it was bleeding, and the weak, rusted knife she was sharpening had bent in the whetstone. Cursing, Syl threw it on the ground, along with the stone.

Still, she couldn't help but marvel at the red cloth mechanism replacing the dragon's left tailfin. Whilst the metal bar going up the side of its tail held it more or less in place, it was still very flexible, able to stretch out to the full extent the dragon's natural one could, whilst still being very sturdy and taut when flexed. From the back of the tail, a string ran up along its body, all the way to the streamlined saddle on the back, where it connected to the contraption used to adjust the fin. It had a small, oddly shaped rest that she knew was designed for Hiccup's dead leg, though she figured it could probably fit into a smaller foot, as well.

She was about to move closer to get a better look before she realized the dragon was staring at her, something almost like curiosity in its eyes. But that wasn't possible, was it? These beasts didn't have emotions - they were dragons, born and brought up to kill Vikings - it was in their nature.

Muttering under her breath, she sat back down. The dragon's gaze stayed on her. She picked up the knife again and tried to bend it back into shape with the whetstone.

Then she dropped it.

The dragon was walking towards her.

She hadn't even seen it get up. How that was possible when it was right in front of her, she didn't know. But she _did_ know that it was moving towards her quite quickly and seemed to have a certain venom in its eyes that it had been missing before.

Her breathing becoming rapid, she slowly got up, clutching the knife. Blunted as it may have been, she could still use it as a weapon. "Don't… Don't try anything… Stay back!" She yelled in between breaths. The dragon continued forward, snarling, as though it found her statement petty. _This is it,_ she thought to herself. _I knew it! They're going to kill us all! I'm the only one around here who understands - they're not safe!_ Frightened, she suddenly realized, _And I'm going to die because I'm the only one who wasn't afraid to say it._

Slowly, the Night Fury stalked towards her, one foot after the other. The gap closed. Twenty feet, then ten feet, then five, and it stopped. Her breathing turned into full-on panicky swells in her lungs, and she felt her heart beating so fast she thought it might burst out of her chest. She tightened her grip on her knife.

The dragon looked up at her for a moment.

Then it bent its head to her knees.

It was so simple a gesture that she didn't realize it at first. But when she did, she had to blink twice to assure herself of what it had just done. With its head bent down, it was incredibly vulnerable - whilst its scales were still thick, a sharp enough knife could still penetrate it.

She stared at the dragon for a moment, suspicious. "Is… Is this some kind of a trick?! Are you… Are you…" But she couldn't think of an excuse - in the position it was in, there was no easy way it could defend itself against a blow, especially with a sharp object, to the back of its head. If struck in the right place, she knew, the blood would be cut off from its head, and it would die almost instantly, unable to even scream one last time for help. There was no way she could see the dragon coming out of this scenario alive, and yet…

She looked down at the blunted knife in her hand, then back up at the dragon, angrily. "Is this… Is this some kind of a… A joke, to you?"

The Night Fury rolled its eyes. Quicker than she could react, it looked up and grabbed the knife out of her hand with its mouth, placed it on the ground, and bent it more or less back into shape, then stepped back again, and lowered its head once more.

Slowly, she picked up the knife again. "How…" The words escaped her, and she ended up mouthing syllables, before clenching her jaw shut. She took a deep breath and raised the knife above the dragon's head. It huffed as if to say, "Get on with it!", but didn't look up.

She let out the air through her mouth in a steady stream. _This… This is it…_ She thought, coming to another realization. _This is what I wanted - If I kill this… BEAST, I could go back to my island, and they'd celebrate my accomplishments like they always should've! I can be the one, the mighty Night Fury slayer! Ending the bane of Viking's existence for generations! I could do it - my Mother and I could get along, we could conquer Berk, and the entire world! I could raise an army on my own! They would be groveling at my feet! I could make those bastards pay for abandoning me here! I could…_ The thoughts trailed off in her mind, and she couldn't help but grin internally. _This is my chance…_ She raised up the knife once again, her hands shaking in anticipation - this dragon had chosen to trust her, and it was the last mistake it would ever make in its life.

She frowned and sighed.

"But what does it matter, anyways?" She asked herself.

The knife clattered to the ground harmlessly, landing with a dull _THUD._

"I could bring back your heart on a plate for all my mother cares, and she would _still_ send me back here, if not just kill me on the spot. There's… There's no point." She sat back down, hugging her knees, not even remembering the dragon that was in front of her a moment before was still there. He looked up at her, as though disappointed, then backed up a bit, still staring at her.

Finally acknowledging him, she raised an eyebrow. "What?"

He looked at her, then over at the small bundle of Astrid's clothes, then back at her. Rolling her eyes, she got up and moved over to them. As she picked up the skirt, she couldn't help but look back at the dragon, more in annoyance than in fear. "Toothless," she muttered, "What a stupid name."

* * *

After sitting through what felt like ages of Hiccup's questions, and desperately trying to answer them, Astrid finally told him that her paw was starting to get cramped and that the questions would have to wait. When that didn't work, she just stopped answering them, which made him shut up, eventually. After that, they just laid there, reveling in that small moment of peace, which they both knew wouldn't last.

Yet she felt safe, and she was with Hiccup, and in those moments, lying under the trees, she felt as if nobody was watching her, nobody cared about what she did, and she could spend the rest of her life without worries. The smarter half of herself told her that it made her vulnerable and she shouldn't have been thinking that way, but she decided not to worry, at least for the moment.

When Hiccup seemed to believe a reasonable amount of silence had passed, he asked her just one more question. "Astrid… Are you sure about… This?"

She looked back at him - he was in that space behind her leg once again - and rolled her eyes.

 **DO I HAVE A CHOICE? IT'S TOO LATE NOW.**

"Well," he replied, "we could just… Not. I might be able to convince the Village that you're actually missing - I could work out. I could go out here, and bring you food, and we could try to change you back… I could just tell people I was looking for you…"

She shook her head.

 **PEOPLE WOULD SEE YOU BRINGING FOOD**

 **AND THEY WOULD WONDER WHY YOU WOULDN'T**

 **TAKE ANYONE WITH YOU**

 **BESIDES**

 **SYL ALREADY KNOWS WHAT HAPPENED**

 **IF WE LET HER GO**

 **OR PUT HER IN PRISON**

 **SHE COULD TELL PEOPLE ABOUT THIS**

Hiccup's eyebrows furrowed, as though he hadn't considered it. "Well, she might not…" Even he sounded doubtful. She frowned.

 **YOU'RE TOO TRUSTING IN HER, HICCUP**

 **YOU NEED TO LEARN NOT TO GIVE AWAY SECRETS**

 **ESPECIALLY IF WE'RE GOING TO DO THIS.**

He was about to respond before she heard a scream coming from where they had come. She whipped her head over to Hiccup, wondering if he hadn't heard it due to her new dragon-ears, but he looked surprised, as well. Her eyes widened. _That… No-good, rotten, sorry excuse for a...!_ Throwing herself onto her feet, she rushed back through the trees to the lake. " _Toothless!"_ She thought, trying to send the message out to him. There was no response. She broke through the forest, growling, barely aware of Hiccup yelling something behind her.

" _Where is she?!"_ She yelled out in all directions with her mind, probably sending the message to every dragon within several miles of the gorge.

She saw Stormfly circling down from above, looking quite frantic. Toothless was sitting near the lake, looking almost… _Embarrassed?_ That couldn't have been right, but she had no other explanation for his expression. And Syl…

Quickly scanning the beach, she immediately noticed one thing that was missing - her axe. Then something darted out of the forest behind her, and she whipped around to fight, not noticing Toothless's suddenly worried look as she did.

Sure enough, there stood Syl, holding her axe. And…

Hiccup rushed up behind her a moment later. "Sorry… Astrid… You're… Very… Fast… Now…" He turned to look at Syl, and his jaw dropped open, only a single word leaving his mouth. "... Oh."

Astrid blinked.

Syl was wearing her clothes.

"So," the spy threw her hair over her shoulder and adjusted the circlet to hold it in place. Then she grinned at them. "How do I look?"


	10. The Change

**Why, hello again. I didn't see you there.**

 **It's me - the one that uploads things late. As I'm sure you could guess, the last two chapters before this were originally intended to be all one, but my schedule ended up being a lot busier than I expected, and I didn't have enough time to finish it all by the deadline. In fact, I had originally considered this chapter to be a part of them, as well, but I was so ridiculously far behind that fitting them all into one ended up being out of the question entirely.**

 **That's just about it - I'm trying to write less in these forewords to avoid dragging, so,**

 **Sorry for the late updates,**

 **Be sure to leave a review and follow this story, and**

 **I hope you all enjoy!**

 **P.S. This story is not _nearly_ over yet. **

**I don't own How to Train Your Dragon.**

* * *

Syl did a twirl and grinned at them.

"Pretty dress you've got here, Astrid, though it's kinda spiky. You might want to change it up a bit, sometimes."

 _It's a SKIRT,_ she thought venomously, _And the spikes are throat catchers! Honestly, does this girl know nothing about fighting dragons?! I thought she hated them! But it's almost like she was never even in the war, or something!_

"Other than that, the shoulder pads seem a bit heavy, and pretty over-the-top, if you ask me. And this blouse? Well, it looks nice, but _damn,_ is it tight! I almost can't move around in this thing!"

Hiccup tried to speak a few times as Syl went on criticizing Astrid's clothes, but the boy's mouth just opened and closed, not a word coming out. Finally, after about a minute of shock, he stuttered out, "We… Heard a… A scream…"

Syl's smile dropped, and she rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Oh. You're overgrown lizard over there was watching me when I was putting my blouse on. You really need to learn how to control him better."

Astrid snarled at her.

 **YOUR** **BLOUSE?**

Syl's eyes widened. "Oh, heh, yeah. Sorry - just forgot about… You know. But, at least I'm getting in character, right?" She grinned again.

Suddenly, Astrid realized something else she hadn't considered. She whipped around to Toothless, angry. " _Have YOU seen ME without clothes on?!"_ She growled at him, a bit more harshly than she had intended.

He reared back defensively. " _Me? Never! When would I ever have seen you… Naked?!"_ The last word was strained, as though he had struggled to remember it.

" _Well,"_ she considered it for a moment. " _There was that time that Hookfang singed my blouse nearly to ashes, and I told everyone to go away while I changed, but… The dragons didn't!"_

Toothless seemed confused. " _No, we did. Stormfly stayed behind with you, and the rest of us flew back to the nest and waited for you to come back! Which took FOREVER, might I remind you!"_ He stood up on all fours and walked over to her, narrowing his eyes. " _Why do you even care so much, anyway? Is it because I can talk to you now? I can 'think' now, too, so it's more important?!"_

Astrid groaned. " _Yes! I mean no! I don't know, alright?"_

Toothless rolled his eyes and purred at her. " _I still don't see why you care - it's not like I'd tell Hiccup, Even if I could! Why does it matter if I see?!"_

" _Well, because it's… Personal!"_ She yelled at him. Why couldn't he just understand this?

Toothless snorted, and gestured at her with one of his paws. " _Personal? You're naked right now!"_

She was about to throw an insult back at him, or possibly even attack him before she realized he was right. She hadn't even noticed it because she hadn't felt like she _needed_ clothes - she hadn't felt cold since she had transformed, and so much of her changed had that she hadn't even thought about her… _Parts,_ that might've been exposed. It raised far too many questions that she did _not_ want to spend time thinking about. Then again, it explained why he didn't seem to think it was a big deal - he had never worn clothes in his life, apart from his saddle and tailfin. For a moment, a strangely funny image of Toothless wearing a giant tunic and fur coat like Hiccup's popped into her mind, before disappearing suddenly. She knew it would be impossible for _her_ to wear clothes as she was, as well, but who knew? Perhaps Hiccup could make something for her.

" _Well…"_ She began, trying to choose her next words carefully - she couldn't let him think he had won the argument. " _That's different. We'll settle this later."_

Toothless shrugged, but she could plainly see a proud smirk on his face as he turned tail and padded back to the lake. Sighing, she turned back to Syl and Hiccup, neither of whom seemed to have noticed their argument.

Seeing her clothes on someone else was just… _Weird._ She had never loaned them off to anyone, nor even considered it - she doubted they would fit anyone else on Berk, she only had one extra blouse and skirt, and, well, it seemed too personal. Yet here this girl was, acting as though she had worn them her whole life. Of course, she didn't _look_ like her yet, but Astrid knew that would come soon enough, as well.

Nonetheless, she knew it was probably a good thing that Syl get used to moving around in them, as strange as the implications were, and Hiccup seemed to think so, too.

"Well," he told the girl, after glancing at Astrid for a moment. "I guess it's good that you wear them while we're training. It'll probably be a bit… _Dirty,_ by the end of the day, but that'll make more sense to the village when we go back, anyway."

Syl laughed nervously. "Uh… Training? 'Thought I was just impersonating your girlfriend, not going into a battle."

"Well," Hiccup asked her, "Do you know how to swing a battleax?"

Syl snorted. "No. Why would I? I only agreed to this for a day, you know."

"Yes," he replied, "But, well, it's a pretty big part of Astrid's life, so it'll probably come up at some point or other. No doubt you'll be fighting someone sooner or later."

Syl raised an eyebrow. "Is it really that important?"

Hiccup shrugged. "It's not just that - you need to learn how to fight in melee, as well, with your fists - not a knife, nor sword, for that matter."

Syl turned back around to Astrid, frowning. "I take it stealth isn't really your style?"

Astrid smirked and shook her head. The girl sighed, and turned back to Hiccup. "Wonderful… Guess we're all starting from scratch, then."

"Actually," Hiccup bit his lip nervously and started to back towards Toothless. " _You're_ starting from scratch."

Both Syl's and Astrid's eyes widened. The girl sidestepped away from her. "You're leaving me with _her?_ She's going to kill me!"

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "She is not going to _kill_ you. I just need to go back to Gothi's to get a few more things she had to cook for a few hours. I could wait 'till later on, but there's probably gonna be a lot of people up there today, and I don't really want to take that risk."

"Wait!" Syl called after him, as he climbed onto Toothless. "She can't even talk to me without writing in the dirt! Just what do you expect us to do?!"

He shrugged as Toothless lifted off into the sky. "Well, get training, of course! Besides, _you're_ the reason we're in this mess, and _you_ need to be acting just like Astrid by tomorrow night, so you should probably get started. Don't worry! I'll be back soon, and I'm sure you two have a lot to catch up on!"

And with that, Toothless sent a powerful gust of wind down onto the lake, lifted above the treetops, and they were gone.

* * *

"Alright bud," Hiccup pointed at a small ledge above the edge of the treeline in front of them. "We'll need to land on the back side of the mountain, just in case there's anyone there already. And quietly, too."

Closing his eyes, he sniffed the salty morning air and reveled in the dragon's speed as they glided down to the ledge. This was one of the many reasons he loved flying - not only because of the incredible feeling it gave him but the ridiculously fast traveling. The walk that had taken them almost two hours before barely took ten minutes in the air, and they weren't even rushing. It was unbelievable, and Hiccup couldn't help but envy Toothless for all of those years of quick travel between Berk and Helheim's Gate - it took a few days by boat, but on dragons, it was just a quick afternoon's flight away. Of course, going back there always forced them to risk being eaten…

Glancing up the mountain, Hiccup did a checked the chosen spot to ensure that they'd be able to climb up from there, before telling Toothless to land.

It being early morning, Hiccup knew it was unlikely that anyone would climb up to her hut until the sun rose further into the sky, but still, he and Toothless scaled the mountain as silently as they could.

They were about to round the corner to Gothi's house before they heard voices traveling up the path ahead of them. It only took him a moment to pull one out of the bunch - it was his father's. At first, whatever he was saying was garbled, but as he grew closer, Hiccup was able to make out most of the conversation, despite the fact that he couldn't see his Dad's or any of the others he had taken with him.

"... Gothi! Are you alright? I'm sure that storm hit you quite 'ard the other night!" Hiccup, of course, didn't hear or see her response, but he already knew what the answer was. While Gothi's hut was high on the mountain and perched on a cliff, it was well built and had stood there as long, if not longer than she. In fact, in all the time he could remember, the hut had never even nearly been totally destroyed, even during the war with the dragons. Of course, he hadn't seen any critical damage to the hut when he was last there, as well.

"Good, good…" He replied, and his voice seemed to age ten years as he continued, "Have you seen Hiccup?"

The boy tensed and felt the hairs on his arms stand up on edge, like thin blades of grass flicking to attention in a strong wind. This was it, he knew. Unless they had come up earlier, which he doubted, this would prove whether or not Gothi was actually going to help them. He truly couldn't blame her if she didn't. What they had asked of her was insane, and it would be wiser of her to just tell the truth, rather than humor herself by playing along with their foolish plan as she had thus far.

So, Hiccup sat there, holding his breath and gripping Toothless's saddle tightly in anticipation. After a moment, he heard his father sigh, and a wave of incomprehensible muttering broke out among whoever he had brought with him.

"Quiet down!" Hiccup heard him yell. He spoke again only when the muttering had ceased. "Gothi... If there's any way you can find them, any method you can use to tell us what might've happened to him..." His voice trailed off, and Hiccup heard him suck in his breath. Was he... Crying?

"Son… Where are you?" Hiccup heard his father ask, quite painfully.

 _I'm right here, Dad,_ He thought with more than a bit of guilt.

"He's been missing for two days now," He heard him tell someone. "TWO DAYS! I just… That storm… Where could he and Astrid have gone? How do you lose two dragons _and_ _two_ _KIDS? Tell me!_ " He was angry now, Hiccup knew, trying desperately to find the solution to a problem that couldn't be solved with force. H didn't speak another word after that, and the muttering returned.

They waited in the bushes until he was his father and the other's voices began to fade as they finally walked back down the mountain. Even then, he didn't dare move for another five minutes to assure they wouldn't see them if they were to look back up to the hut. When he was positive they were gone, they both walked as quietly as possible over to Gothi, who didn't seem all too surprised to see them.

She disappeared into her hut to get the supplies she had promised him, and materialized outside a moment later, carrying a small pot with a golden-yellow powder in it, and a flask, as well as a small bag to put them both in. She stared at him wistfully as he placed them carefully into the satchel, then poked him on the shoulder with the end of her staff just as they turned to walk away.

 **YOUR FATHER IS WORRIED SICK ABOUT YOU**

 **AND ASTRID, TOO.**

"Yeah, I… I know." He replied regretfully. "But I'll be back soon, and so will Astrid… Well, sort of."

Gothi continued to stare at him skeptically.

 **YOU NEED TO DO THIS SOONER**

"Uh," Hiccup raised his eyebrows. "Sooner? How much sooner?"

 **TOMORROW**

"T- _Tomorrow?"_ Hiccup stuttered.

Gothi nodded.

 **TOMORROW**

 **IF YOU HOLD OFF ANY LONGER**

 **YOUR FATHER WILL EITHER GO MAD**

 **OR SEND THE ENTIRE VILLAGE OUT TO FIND YOU.**

"But… That's not enough time…"

 **YOU HAVE EVERYTHING YOU NEED RIGHT HERE**

 **DO YOU STILL HAVE THE GLASS I GAVE YOU?**

"What, that liquid? Yeah, but-"

She smacked him on the head with her staff.

 **THEN YOU HAVE EVERYTHING YOU NEED!**

 **YOU ARE READY.**

"Yes, but she's not!" Hiccup yelled, startling a bird that had been resting on the peak of the hut. Suddenly worried, he glanced over the edge to see if his father and his men had heard, but they were long gone, mere specks approaching the village once again.

"She put the clothes on, but…" Hiccup shook his head worriedly. "I don't know if she's taking it seriously. I don't even know if she's going to do it for more than a day!"

 **SHE WILL.**

 **BELIEVE ME,**

 **I KNOW SHE WILL.**

Gothi motioned her staff towards the pack in Hiccup's hands.

 **THE POWDER IS A DANDELION AND LEMON MIXTURE I BOUGHT**

 **FROM THE TRADER A FEW MONTHS AGO.**

 **MIX IT IN THE FLASK, THEN HAVE HER POUR IT IN HER HAIR**

 **IT WILL DYE IT BLONDE.**

 **BE SURE SHE DOESN'T RINSE IT OFTEN**

 **OR IT WILL WASH OUT.**

 _I don't even remember the last time Astrid washed her hair,_ Hiccup thought to himself.

 **THE GLASS I GAVE YOU**

 **IS THE FINAL STEP.**

 **HAVE HER DRINK IT**

 **JUST BEFORE YOU GO BACK**

"Um… Okay?" Hiccup thought back to the luminescent vial of liquid Gothi had handed him just a few hours before.

 **REMEMBER**

 **IN AN EMERGENCY,**

 **MEAD WILL WASH IT OUT,**

 **BUT NOT TOO MUCH.**

 **ONE DROP WILL LAST UP TO A MONTH**

 **BUT I DOUBT I CAN MAKE MUCH MORE**

 **SO YOU WILL HAVE TO SOLVE THIS QUICKLY.**

"Well, I doubt it will take _months…"_ Hiccup replied, still questioning the words as soon as they left his mouth. Gothi seemed doubtful, as well.

 **IN ALL OF MY YEARS AS A HEALER ON BERK**

 **I SWEAR TO YOU, HICCUP,**

 **I HAVE NEVER SEEN A SITUATION SUCH AS YOURS**

 **AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT WILL SOLVE IT.**

"But… You said you would be able to get the materials from Johann…"

 **I LIED, HICCUP.**

 **I'M SORRY, BUT I'M AFRAID I HAVE NO CLUE HOW TO HEAL HER**

 **I DIDN'T WANT TO GET THE POOR GIRL'S SPIRITS DOWN**

 **WHILST I'M SURE THEY'RE ALREADY QUITE LOW.**

Hiccup sighed. Gothi's wistful stare returned, evaluating him this time.

 **SHE'S A NICE GIRL, HICCUP**

 **STRONG. A BIT FOOLHARDY, PERHAPS, BUT STRONG.**

 **HOLD ONTO HER.**

 **FIX** **HER.**

Hiccup blushed but still nodded confidently. And with that, Gothi hobbled back into her hut, slamming the door shut behind her, and leaving Hiccup and Toothless standing near the top of the Mountain, alone.

He turned to the dragon, who only rolled his eyes and walked off to the ledge they had landed on. Hiccup shook his head and followed him, stopping to survey the quickly rising sun once they reached the cliff.

"Well," Hiccup told the Night Fury, "I think it's still early enough. We should be able to fly back from here, we'll just keep it low. Alright, bud?"

The dragon appeared not to have heard him, as he didn't react at all, still staring off over the treetops. His eyes seemed to be clouded, and foggy, emotionless.

"Uh… Toothless?" The boy waved a hand in front of his face. "Can you hear me, bud? Everything okay?" Still, the dragon didn't respond. Frowning, Hiccup turned back to Gothi's hut, ready to ask for help, before Toothless suddenly snapped out of his stupor. His eyes returned to normal, and he shook his head, as though coming out of a trance, then turned his head, like nothing had happened.

"Right…" Hiccup said nervously. "Weird… You okay, Toothless?"

He nodded, looking rather confused, but Hiccup still couldn't help but feel a bit wary. Nonetheless, he climbed onto the dragon's saddle, shifted his foot into place in the lever, and they lifted off.

He pondered Gothi's cryptic warning about the liquid. What could it be? Gothi certainly wasn't a witch, despite what Syl seemed to believe. No, she was a healer, and one of Berk's best. Aside from that, she was the Elder of the village, and given how old she was, she certainly deserved to be. For as long as he could remember, Gothi had made the decisions on who would kill the Monstrous Nightmare in the ring in training, and she had almost always been right in her decisions. Sometimes Hiccup still wondered; why him? Why not Astrid? Did she know what was going to happen, that he would stop the war? She had seen all of the training he had done leading up to the battle, so could she tell he wasn't fighting the dragons? Perhaps she _had_ known all along, but always secretly wanted peace with the dragons.

Whilst she obviously wasn't a witch, it was a common legend that she _did_ use magic. Rumors told of some mysterious healing methods she had used in the past that could bring a Viking back to full health, even after a deathly sickness or a near-death infection. But the drink - or potion - that she had given him didn't seem to show any magical properties. But then again, why should it? It was simply a liquid in a glass, with properties only known to her, at least currently. But what _exactly-_

Hiccup didn't get more time to think about it. Without warning, Toothless suddenly turned his nose down and started to drop down towards the trees, going into a near vertical dive as his wings angled towards the hills below them. Hiccup panicked for a moment, thinking he had accidentally changed the tailfin with his foot without looking, but he hadn't. Toothless's body had seemingly gone limp, his entire tail flicking up under the force of the wind, and his wings folding up slightly.

"TOOTHLESS!" Hiccup screeched as they plummeted downward, the trees growing scarily closer than he would have preferred. The dragon didn't respond, as though it hadn't even heard him. Still, they fell from the sky like stones tossed off of a cliff, uncontrollable. The wind screeched past his ears, and he felt himself start to float up into the air, attached only by the tethers on his suit.

He looked down and saw that the dragon's eyes had the same milky-white glaze coating them as they had just a few minutes before, his mouth open on a slight hinge. It reminded him eerily of the night the dragon had taken him and Astrid into the Green Death's lair, only this time, Toothless didn't seem to have any control, at all. Truly panicking, He grabbed onto the Night Fury's head with both hands and shook it, trying desperately to snap him out of whatever horrible trance he had gone into. Somehow, Hiccup knew he was still alive, but he certainly wasn't acting like it.

Hiccup screamed, "TOOTHLESS, BUD! YOU GOTTA WAKE UP!" The wind continued rushing past his ears, the screech of the air shrilling higher and higher. The trees grew closer - two hundred feet, then a hundred. Hiccup's life flashed before his eyes; his only memory of his mother, his father's angst after she was taken away, realizing he truly loved the warrior girl who didn't know he existed, finally shooting down Toothless, only to set him free the next day, waking up without a leg, all the way up to finding Astrid lying in the woods just a day before. _Astrid… Oh, Gods, Astrid. I'm going to die here, and she's going to be stuck in that ravine as a dragon forever! Syl will leave, and she'll… She'll be… Oh, GODS…_

And then suddenly, Toothless blinked. Time seemed to stop for a moment, and he watched as the dragon looked down with wide eyes, opened his mouth, and screeched at the very top of his lungs.

Just a few feet before they crashed into the trees, Toothless put all of his weight into one giant downward push with his wings, which still sent them crashing through the pines in the forest, though not quite at the lethal rate they had been plummeting at a moment before.

After crashing through what felt like hours of branches, many of which whacked and scraped his face, they finally fell to the ground with a _THUMP,_ causing Hiccup to fall off the saddle onto the needle and leaf-bedded ground. For a moment, he simply lay there under the trees, wondering if he was already dead. When he realized he wasn't he mustered the courage to stand up, glad to find that nothing seemed to be broken.

Shakily, catching his breath, Hiccup clambered to his feet and stared at the dragon, who seemed just as terrified as he had been. "Not… Okay… Need to… Get you… Some help…"

Toothless was quiet for a moment, solemn, until he noticed a trickle of blood running out of Hiccup's nose, and leaned up to lick it off, his tongue covering the entirety of Hiccup's face. Still catching his breath, Hiccup laughed and playfully pushed the dragon's head away, leading him to give a deep _coo_ of concern.

He surveyed the damage. Whilst he had suffered little more than a nosebleed and a few cuts on his arms, Toothless's saddle and tailfin both had severe damage, both barely usable. The adjustment mechanism seemed to be in well enough condition, but the line leading it back to the fin was nearly torn through - he would have to replace it once he got back to the village. Toothless had lost a few scales, as well, though there didn't seem to be any flesh wounds, which wasn't all too surprising, given how durable most dragon's hides were.

He frowned. There had been times in the past when he had lost control of the tailfin mechanism, or the dragon's fin had burnt off when they were battling the Green Death. But never in the past could he remember a time when Toothless had just completely zoned out, or stiffened up mid-flight like he had. It was possible he had just fallen asleep - they had had a rough past few days, after all, but he knew that couldn't have been right, either - his eyes had been more foggy than drowsy, as though he were in a trance. Whatever it was, he needed to find out _quickly_ , which meant going back to the village, which meant…

"We need to go. _Now."_ He told Toothless, who perked up a bit at his sudden seriousness. "And, uh, no more flying until we get back to the village, alright, bud?"

The dragon nodded, and together, they set off back through the forest towards the gorge.

* * *

They could hear the sound of a girl screaming and a dragon roaring before they even reached the crevice. Hiccup glanced at Toothless and raised an eyebrow for a moment before the both ran the rest of the way to the ledge. Syl's words were inaudible from there, but it was obvious they were having some kind of an argument. He saw Stormfly resting like a bird by the lake, looking about as annoyed as a dragon possibly could.

Hiccup couldn't help but roll his eyes as soon as he saw them. "Stick the spy who's supposed to act like the loudest girl in the world with the loudest girl in the world who's been turned into the stealthiest dragon known to mankind. What a great idea, Hiccup. Nothing could _possibly_ go wrong with _that_ flawless plan."

Seeing as how they didn't seem to be coming to an agreement - which didn't seem likely in the first place, given that one of them couldn't even talk - Hiccup eventually risked gliding down into the gorge on Toothless, luckily without another nearly catastrophic landing. Still, neither of the girls seemed to notice they had arrived until Hiccup walked right in between them.

"Oh, _great!"_ Syl triumphed dramatically as soon as she saw him, throwing her hands up in the air. "Look who's back! It's the demon's boyfriend! You know, I have to say, I was actually _quite_ afraid that she would kill me once you left - really! But now, I only wish she had. Eat me, slice me up into bits, roast me like a pig, I don't care, anything else that _doesn't_ _turn my life into a living hell!"_

"Um… Right. Just a moment, please." Hiccup quickly whirled around to face Astrid, trying to avoid the confrontation, before realizing he had just put himself into another one. The girl-turned-dragon seemed to be switching back and forth between growling and glaring at Toothless, and Hiccup noticed him wince every few seconds as she did. He could guess that whatever thoughts she was sending him were not the most positive or pleasant to hear.

"Uh… Astrid?" He asked weakly. She whipped around to face him mid-snarl. This time, it was his turn to wince. "Could you, uh, give me a little more context, here?"

She ground her claw into the dirt as she wrote.

 **YOUR NEW FRIEND OVER THERE**

 **NEARLY BROKE MY AXE IN HALF**

 **TRYING** **TO DO A BASIC SWING-THROUGH MANEUVER ON**

 **THE TREES.**

 **SHE PUTS TOO MUCH WEIGHT INTO THE SWING**

 **DOESN'T CONSERVE HER ENERGY**

 **LOSES HER BALANCE ON THE CONNECTION**

 **AND LEAVES HERSELF VULNERABLE**

 **THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE EXERCISE!**

 **IT'S LIKE SHE KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT**

 **BASIC FIGHTING SKILLS!**

"Well… Not everyone's trained since they were seven years old. And you _are_ trying to fit a few month's worth of training into less than a few hours of training, to be fair."

Hiccup glanced back at Syl, whose hair was stuck to her forehead with sweat. She was also hunched over like he often was if he ran too far.

He raised an eyebrow. "So… This was on her first try?"

Astrid looked away, still angry, and Hiccup sighed.

He looked at the forest. Each tree near the edge had a gash in it, none of them consistent. Some were larger, suggesting the tree was about to be cut down, whilst others barely had a small bit of bark scraped off. But all of them were all marked, in one way or another.

He turned back to Syl, who was still boiling with contempt. "So, I know that Astrid's training can be… _Rigorous,_ but-"

He heard a screech come from behind him and whipped back around to see Astrid scribbling chaotically in the dirt again.

 **YOU'RE SIDING WITH HER?!**

 **SHE GOT US INTO THIS WHOLE MESS!**

 **AND YOU'RE THE ONE WHO TOLD ME TO TRAIN HER!**

 **WHAT DID YOU EXPECT?**

"Well… I… I don't know!" He yelled. "Just forget the axe-fighting, alright? If Syl decides to do it for more than one day, she can come back here in the afternoons and you can train her, alright? We don't have time to go through all of this!"

Astrid growled again.

 **WHY DOES SHE GET TO DECIDE IF**

 **SHE DOES IT FOR MORE THAN A DAY?**

 **WHY ARE WE WORKING ON HER TERMS?**

 **WE SHOULD JUST FORCE HER!**

"Well…" Hiccup glanced back at Syl, who was still right behind him, and considered whispering it in Astrid's ear, before realizing it didn't matter. "We _can't_ force her because she knows about all of this, now. Maybe I screwed up, alright? But if she reveals this whole thing then I could probably just turn her over to my Dad, yeah. But she hasn't run away to go tell my father because she doesn't want to turn _herself_ in in the process. So we have to train her to be _you,_ and we'll just have to hope that for some reason she wants to do it for more than one day!"

He turned around to look at Syl, expecting to be met with resentment or bitterness, but she only shrugged, indifferent. "Couldn't have said it better myself."

"Oh, and there's one more thing…" Hiccup said, looking down at the ground awkwardly. Syl raised an eyebrow, as did Astrid. He still didn't look up. "We're going to have to move the day we go back to tomorrow. At dawn. Because of my father, and… Something else." There was a moment of stunned silence, as they both processed what he had just told them.

"What, exactly, is this _something else?"_ Syl asked furiously.

"Uh…" Hiccup glanced at Toothless, who looked almost as nervous as he was. "I'll tell you later. Right now, we need to get started with other stuff. You probably won't need to know much about battleax fighting until later on. Anyways, we need to move on to what's next - everyone back in the village. I doubt you'll need to know _everyone_ in the village, as I'm not sure Astrid even does," -He heard an annoyed grunt from behind him, but continued- "so we'll just go over some of her, and my, friends. I think you might like this a bit better, considering how much you like… Ehm… _Investigating_ people."

Syl raised an eyebrow. "And what makes you say that?"

"Oh, you know… Spying on us, finding out where we were going in order to kill me…"

"Oh, right. _That._ " Syl replied, suddenly understanding. "Do I really need to know _all_ of these people? I mean, if I'm going back to _your_ village, and just for a day, couldn't I just lay low in a house or something until the end of the day? After you announce that I'm - or she - is back, that is."

"No," Hiccup replied. "Astrid doesn't just disappear in the village. Even if she's bleeding out, or missing a limb, she'll still find some way to help the rest of the village, after she gets fixed up, that is. She wouldn't just lie around in bed or hide all day, and nobody expects her to." Hiccup turned around, hoping to get Astrid's approval, but she appeared not to have heard him at all, still annoyed over something else.

"Uh… Something to add, Astrid?" Hiccup asked her, knowing he would probably regret it soon enough.

 **JUST WHAT EXACTLY**

 **DO YOU EXPECT US TO DO**

 **IF YOU'RE ONLY DISGUISED AS ME**

 **FOR A DAY?**

"I don't know," Syl shrugged. "Maybe I could come back without your dragon over there, and say I lost her in the woods. Then I could go off as you saying I was going looking for her for a few days, he could figure out whatever's wrong with you, and you come back whenever. Unless you somehow find a way to bring her back in one day. All depends on how long it takes you to fix her, though."

"That…" Hiccup thought out loud, "Could actually work! You would just need to tell the village as soon as we got back-" Something nudged him roughly in the back, and he turned around to see Astrid glaring at him again, outraged.

 **WHY ARE YOU AGREEING WITH HER** **AGAIN?!**

 **SHE JUST TOLD US** **A FEW HOURS AGO**

 **THAT SHE HATES US**

 **AND** **OUR DRAGONS!**

"Well, it's just that… Her plan could work! And she's thought out what'll happen to us!"

 **SO SHE CAN KILL US LATER ON!**

 **HONESTLY,**

 **HOW DO YOU STILL TRUST HER, HICCUP?**

He squeezed his eyes shut. "She's the only chance we have at this plan, and we're too far into it to back out now, whether or not we keep this up for more than a day!"

Astrid grumbled.

 **I JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND**

 **WHY SHE WANTS TO HELP US.**

"Maybe it's because I actually feel _bad_ about what I did to you! Ever consider that?!" Hiccup realized Syl had been reading Astrid's messages, as well. "Yeah, sure, I tried to kill Hiccup, for my mother, and for my tribe. Wouldn't you do anything for your tribe, as well?"

 **YOU SAID IT YOURSELF EARLIER!**

 **YOU HAVE NO HONOR.**

 **YOU ONLY WANTED TO KILL HICCUP**

 **TO IMPRESS THEM.**

"Because they had been ashamed of me my entire life! And just after I set that trap, it all came crashing down - they disowned me, and now I'm here. And as far as killing him goes? Yeah, poison and acid are stupid ways to go, but what other choice did I have? You have a _Night Fury._ A creature _born_ to kill people! And what you've done… It completely goes against Viking tradition and honor. But no, I didn't _want_ to kill you. And you know what? I still don't. Eye for an eye, let's call it. But turning someone into a dragon? That's just _cruel_. It's _sick._ So yeah, that's right, just take a moment to revel in the fact that I have even the _slightest_ bit of compassion for what's happened to you, because you certainly won't be seeing it again!"

"Stop it!" Hiccup screamed. "Whatever your past or present ties to wanting to kill each other or myself were, they end now until further notice. We're wasting time, here, and we need to get started, no matter what ends up happening between all of us later on. Alright?"

Astrid snorted indignantly, keeping her eyes locked on the girl in her clothes. "Whatever," Syl mumbled, crossing her arms.

"Okay," Hiccup replied, exasperated. "First up, Snotlout. You'll probably see him mostly in the academy-"

"Wait," Syl waved a hand, interrupting him. "What's the academy?"

"I'll explain later," Hiccup told her. "Anyways, Snotlout is… Well, he's Snotlout. There isn't really any good way to describe him, but he, well, he likes himself a _lot._ His family goes back on Berk a long way, so he likes to rub it in people's faces a _lot._ He'll also take any opportunity to prove how tough he is that he can. He does work out quite a bit-" Hiccup could practically feel the annoyance emanating off of the gray dragon behind him. "Oh, and he asks Astrid to marry him. A few times a day, at least."

Syl rolled her eyes, as though something had just cleared up in her mind. "Oh, he's one of _those_ guys? I really hate them. 'Wish I could just punch them in the face. With a brick. Or an ax. Every day."

Surprised, Hiccup turned back to look at Astrid and smirked. "This might be easier than I thought!"

She narrowed her eyes.

 **DON'T COUNT ON IT.**

* * *

They went over as many other people they could think of that she might have a more than brief encounter with over the course of an hour, and spent another hour just reviewing it. Syl seemed delighted to find out Astrid had given permission to punch almost anyone in the village that annoyed her and wasn't her elder, including Hiccup, which he wished she had left out. By the time they finished, the sun was already starting its descent down over the mountains to the west.

"Alright, then, we probably shouldn't waste much more time on that. Now, how Astrid acts. I should probably hand this task over to my lady herself, as she's probably the best suited to tell you. He gestured to Astrid, who looked surprised at first, but waltzed up to Syl confidently a moment later. She brought her claw out to write, and then… Nothing. She frowned, and moved it back down, then pulled it back up again. Then she looked up at Hiccup worriedly.

"Uh… Something wrong, Astrid?" He asked.

 **I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY.**

Hiccup shrugged. "Well, I don't know, basic stuff. Where you live in the village, what you like to eat, what you do in your free time. Those sort of things, I guess."

 **WELL, I DON'T SPEND TIME THINKING ABOUT**

 **ALL OF THAT STUFF.**

"You live five homes down from the Great Hall, two beyond mine, with your room in the loft, and your family's house has never burnt down. Your favorite food is spit roasted chicken, preferably the wing. You like to practice blunt axe-throwing at the forest behind Fishlegs's house when you have the time to. You also sleep on your left side - and before you ask, I only know that because you were complaining about your swinging-arm hurting the other day after you tackled Tuff, and you blamed it on how you'd slept, I swear. Oh, and you're right-handed."

Astrid stared at him for a moment, astonished.

 **HOW DO YOU KNOW ALL OF THIS?**

He shrugged and smiled sheepishly. "Just… Paying attention, I guess. Stuff I noticed. Little things. I swear I'm not stalking you, or anything like that."

She smiled at him and nudged him with her snout jokingly. He shoved her back, and she shoved him again, knocking him to the ground by accident. "Ow," he smiled and grimaced at the same time. "Alright, you got me."

Syl rolled her eyes, and told him, "I still don't know what you see in her." He didn't hear her.

From there, they went over as many small things about Astrid that they could, which eventually lead into a rough overview of her day-to-day life and agenda, and then to random stories from her childhood, with Hiccup commenting from time to time on the things she forgot. Eventually, Syl had to tell them that there was no way she was going to remember all of it and that they may as well stop then because, as she had already stated multiple times that day, she had only agreed to do it for a day, anyways. Though, at worst, the dark mood that had fallen over them from earlier had lifted, at least somewhat.

They spent the rest of the afternoon going over the remaining peculiarities of Astrid's life, Syl agreeing to continue with it after Hiccup suggested that they start on the flying portion. By the time the sun was setting, Syl knew more about Astrid's life than most of the people in the village.

"Alright," Hiccup told the girl, "We should probably get on to flying, now. You _are_ gonna have to fly eventually, you know."

"Uh," Syl stuttered nervously, "I- I don't _need_ to, do I? Couldn't she just… Come with us, or something? I don't see why I have to… _Fly,_ on her back. That's just… _Wrong._ "

Hiccup sighed. "Yes, you will. We could always just walk into the village, but I'm sure we would end up flying later on that day, and that would be without warning, and without time to prepare."

"Fine! Let's just start, then." She stood up rigidly and started to walk towards the Nadder unhappily. "Do I just climb on her back, or-"

"No, no, no!" Hiccup yelled, jumping up himself, and running over to block her from climbing on. "No, you can't just… Before you can ride a dragon alone, you need to bond with them. Like Toothless and I did, and Astrid and Stormfly have, as well." He smiled and pulled up against Toothless, who grinned as well. Astrid had long since decided that they fit so well together that it was almost ridiculous. This was a perfect example.

Syl stood there staring at them for a moment, dumbfounded. " _Bond_ with them? That's the big secret to dragon training?! That's how you became the 'dragon conqueror'?! By _bonding_ with him?! What, do you spend a few months working out a friendship with them first? Build trust over time?!"

"Uh… Yeah. I guess so…" Hiccup replied.

"Wow. Here I was, thinking you used some magic to get these dragons to stop trying to kill you, at the very least. And you're telling me that you just become _friends?!_ Close pals?!"

"Well, yeah! Do you think we hypnotize them, or something?!"

"No, but…"

"How else do you think we do this, then?"

"Well, I don't know, but how the hell are that dragon and I supposed to become best friends in the next few hours?! You just said you build it up over _months!_ "

Hiccup rubbed his forehead tiredly and walked over to Stormfly, who seemed to have been only half paying attention to the conversation. "The process is a lot simpler than that. You just need to do this, alright?"

He walked up to Stormfly. She bent her head down, and he placed his palm on her snout, forming the bond Astrid had seen him create with hundreds of dragons in the past - including herself, now. Not that she was a dragon, of course.

"It's that simple. But to do this, you need to gain her trust. When a dragon lowers its head for you, it means it trusts you enough to bond."

Astrid noticed Syl's eyes flick to Toothless for a moment, as though realizing something, though she wasn't sure why.

"Luckily for you, Stormfly already knows us. If you were trying it on a dragon in the wilderness, it could be much more-"

" _She_ needs to trust _me?!_ " Syl burst out. "How am I supposed to trust her?! I turned her rider into a _dragon!_ She could bite my head off, or worse!"

Hiccup sighed, and muttered, "Well, she certainly has your personality down." Astrid rolled her eyes. She was nothing like that girl.

"I will stay right here to make sure she doesn't bite your head off, alright?" Hiccup pleaded with her. "Besides, if she wanted to kill you, don't you think she would've tried already?"

Syl frowned for a moment, then raised her chin up high. "No. You three go off in the forest. I'll do it alone."

Hiccup raised an eyebrow, skeptical. "Are you sure?"

Syl took a deep breath and nodded, turning to Stormfly.

"Alright, then." Hiccup shrugged. "Ax."

Hesitantly, she walked over and handed him the ax, making Astrid smirk as Hiccup struggled to hold it up.

"And the knife," Hiccup replied.

"Wha- What?!" Syl stammered.

"The knife. Under your belt?"

Syl scowled, and pulled the knife out of the belt holding up the skirt. She tossed it to Hiccup, who fumbled as he caught it, and dropped it. Picking it up, he turned around and walked off into the woods once again.

Astrid glanced at Syl one last time, then looked over at Toothless. " _Hey, Toothless,"_ She hadn't said anything to him since she had yelled at him when he and Hiccup had gotten back earlier.

" _Yeah?"_

" _Could… Could you tell Stormfly what exactly is going on?"_

" _I'm pretty sure she gets it."_

" _I know, but just…"_

Toothless frowned, but turned to Stormfly and told her something in the dragon language nonetheless. She said something back, and Toothless turned to walk back into the woods.

Astrid ran up to him. " _Wait! What did you tell her?"_

Toothless smirked. " _Oh… It's not important."_

Rolling her eyes, Astrid followed him back into the woods, leaving Syl alone by the lake with Stormfly.

* * *

" _I'm worried."_

" _We just left her, Astrid."_

" _I know, but…"_

" _She's not going to hurt Stormfly, trust me. You took away her weapons, she hasn't tried to hurt her so far, and besides, I just have a… What do you call it?"_

" _A hunch?"_

" _Yes. A hunch."_

Astrid sighed. Whilst it was reassuring to hear someone else say it, albeit a dragon, she still couldn't help but feel nervous about leaving the girl who had tried to _kill_ them with Stormfly, despite the fact that she was completely unarmed, as far as they knew. On top of that, Hiccup had once again demonstrated the extent to which he was agreeing to this girl's terms. Why?! She could see no logical reason for him to, aside from agreeing to her demands in order to get her to do what they wanted. But it was beyond that. Hiccup actually seemed to have a genuine _trust_ for the girl, as though he actually believed she wanted to help them, despite the fact that she had _clearly stated_ that she hated them, and wished their dragons were dead. It made no sense _whatsoever._ The only other logical conclusion Astrid was able to arrive at, she didn't even want to think about.

Once again, it took them only a few minutes to reach the same spot the two of them had been lying in earlier, though luckily it had dried off somewhat since they'd last been there. The sun seeped in through the cracks in the colorful leaves above them, creating strange patterns and shapes on Hiccup and Toothless's backs.

" _What's it like for you,"_ Astrid asked him suddenly, " _coming back here after you were trapped down here years ago?"_

The dragon frowned. " _Strange, I suppose. I have to admit, I was scared the first time I realized I couldn't get out, but then Hiccup came here, and… Well, I thought he had come to kill me again, but..."_ His frown was replaced with a smile.

Astrid rolled her eyes. " _Really? The mighty Night Fury, having a bit of a claustrophobia issue? I wouldn't believe it 'till I saw it."_

" _Oh, and the Great Astrid the Warrior's never been scared of anything in all her moons?"_

She shrugged. " _I was scared the first time I saw you. I didn't know what you were."_

His smile dropped somewhat, and he replied, " _Yeah… I tend to get that a lot."_

She raised an eyebrow. " _You hear humans say that a lot? I mean, I'm not saying I do, but…"_

" _No,"_ he shook his head. " _From a lot of dragons, too. Night Furies, as you call us, don't have a very good reputation in most nests. At least, that's what I've gathered. Aside from that, my purpose was very… Different, from most of those that participated in the… Raids. A lot of dragons thought I wasn't doing my best to serve the queen. But... I was just doing as I was told..."_ Once again, his frown deepened, and she got the feeling there was something he wasn't telling her. He shook his head after a moment, clearing his mind.

 _"Anyways, like I was saying, it was terrifying knowing that I was caught down here, like broken prey just waiting to be eaten, or killed. But at the same time, I almost…"_

" _Almost what?"_

" _... It's nothing."_

He didn't say anything after that, and she decided not to pressure him. They all sat down in the small clearing, Hiccup leaning into Toothless in the same way as he had with her earlier, and her trying and failing to sit in the more or less comfortable way she had earlier. He threw down the two weapons once he had.

"Well," Hiccup sat up, glancing once above the ledge to his left to gauge the time. "We'll give her half an hour, then go back, regardless of whether she's done. I hate to do that to her, but we can't afford to waste any time. But until then…"

He looked sheepishly down at the ground for a moment, then up at Astrid. "Since we're all here, there is something I kinda wanted to try."

She motioned for him to go on, and he jumped up, eager to explain. "Well, it wasn't really possible until now, and I didn't think it ever would be, but… If you're okay with it, Astrid…"

She narrowed her eyes.

 **TELL ME WHAT IT IS, FIRST.**

He grinned and turned to his Night Fury. "Toothless, you and I can finally talk to each other! Well, sort of. If you're willing to translate, Astrid…"

She sighed, and nodded.

 **FINE.**

 **BUT ONLY A FEW WORDS.**

 **NO DEEP CONVERSATIONS, HERE. HEAR ME?**

He nodded, biting his lip in anticipation, then turned back to face Toothless. After a moment, he gathered the courage to speak. "Uh… Hey, bud."

Toothless turned to her. " _Tell him I say 'hi', back."_

She wrote out,

 **HE SAYS 'HI, HICCUP.'**

Hiccup shivered. "Gods, this is weird. Though it must be even weirder for you."

He scratched his chin, trying to think of what to say next. It was obvious there were a million things he wanted to ask, but they didn't have the time.

"So, uh," He began, "What does it feel like to be missing a tailfin?" He spat the sentence out quickly, then bit his tongue as soon as he said it, as though wishing he could take the words back.

Toothless kept staring at Hiccup this time, but told her, " _Tell him that it does feel strange, but I've gotten used to the… Creation, he's made for me. It's probably the same way he feels missing a leg. Limited, but still as alive as ever, especially with him._

She translated it into text again, trying to cut corners where she could. Hiccup let out a deep breath as he read it, as though still trying to accept that it was happening. After that, he sat there for a moment, processing what he had said, and glanced at his foot for a moment, likely trying to imagine it were part of a tail.

He stopped for a moment, thinking, then looked up. "Toothless, Do… Do you have another name? You know, among dragons. What… What do they call you?"

He paused for a moment, and frowned, considering the question more deeply than Astrid thought he needed to. Slowly, he turned back to her. " _I… Don't think so. I was referred to sometimes as 'Nest-breaker' and 'Night-fire' oftentimes by my kin, due to the raids, and I know you call me a 'Night Fury', as well."_

" _I think he means a personal name, not… What you are,"_ Astrid clarified.

He frowned again but shrugged after a moment. " _I guess… Toothless is all I know. And I'm happy with it, too."_ He finished the thought confidently, as though trying to convince himself, as well.

Astrid eyed him nervously. " _Uh… You sure about that?"_

He nodded.

She wrote it out in the dirt, and Hiccup relaxed some once he read it, leaning back onto his hands. "Well, if it's what you prefer…"

Toothless nodded.

They spent a few more minutes going back and forth until Astrid complained that her claw was aching, and eventually refused to translate Toothless's answers when they kept going anyways. A few minutes of silence followed.

Eventually, Hiccup was the one who broke it. "What… What do you two think of this whole thing? With you turning into a dragon, and Syl, well, you know… I know you think I'm putting too much trust in her, but… What other choice do we have?" He looked up at her nervously.

There was another moment of silence. Eventually, she wrote,

 **I'M SCARED, HICCUP.**

 **I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO ME,**

 **AND TOOTHLESS DOESN'T, EITHER.**

 **AND SYL**

 **SHE GOT US INTO THIS WHOLE MESS.**

 **I JUST DON'T KNOW HOW WE CAN TRUST HER.**

 **AND ASIDE FROM THAT,**

"... Yeah?" Hiccup asked after another moment had passed.

 **I JUST DON'T KNOW HICCUP.**

 **HOW LONG DO YOU THINK IT'LL**

 **TAKE YOU TO BRING ME BACK TO NORMAL?**

 **WHAT ABOUT THOSE SUPPLIES GOTHI SAID**

 **SHE WOULD BE GETTING?**

For a moment, Hiccup looked as though he were about to say something else, but eventually told her, "No, she… She didn't say anything about them. I guess we'll have to wait 'till they come in with Johann."

Astrid frowned and turned to Toothless. " _Any thoughts on the matter?"_

His entire thought seemed to be let out in a sigh, if that was even possible. " _Astrid, I truly don't know, either. I don't know why or how this happened to you, and I don't even know where to start with bringing you back. And, honest to the Gods, Astrid, I didn't do this to you, either. As far as the girl goes..."_ He grumbled to himself. " _I can't tell you what to think of her, but Hiccup's right. We have to trust her."_

She relayed what he had said back to Hiccup. "Astrid," He told her, "If you can't trust her… Please, at least trust me. I

"Astrid," He told her, "If you can't trust her… Please, at least trust me. I _know_ that this will work."

After considering his words for a moment, she nodded, and laid her head back down for a few minutes more, before speaking something else that had been on her mind for quite some time. " _Toothless… What if she steals my life?"_

" _Uh, what?"_

" _You know, what if she just decides to take my life over permanently? I couldn't do anything about it, and… And…"_

Toothless raised an eyebrow. " _Do you really think SHE wants to be you for the rest of her life?"_

" _I know, I know… I guess you're right."_

There was another short lapse of time before Hiccup spoke up.

"Astrid," he asked carefully, "there's something I wanted to talk to you about…"

He paused for a moment and started to scribble in the dirt, before continuing. "I _really_ don't know how long it's going to take me to… _Fix,_ all of this. It could take days or weeks… Which means you'll be down here alone, for a while… Toothless and I will come back here as often as we can, of course, but…"

Her eyes widened as she considered a new, frighteningly realistic possibility. Trapped in the gorge for days, months, weeks, then years, as Hiccup's attention would slowly begin to move on to other things as life settled down for him in the village. His and Toothless's visits would lessen as time went on, and as even he began to accept the lie they would be attempting to pull off on the entire village. But she would remember - she would slowly go mad in the gorge, struggling to get out… Exactly as Toothless had. Suddenly, though she wasn't sure why, she remembered the first time she had seen the Night Fury, all black, with sharp teeth and venom in its eyes. She had nearly thrown an ax at him before Hiccup had stopped her. At that moment she had realized, _that_ was how Hiccup had been doing so well in Dragon Training, _that_ was where he was sneaking off to each night, _that_ was what he had been hiding.

But this time, she realized, _she_ was the experiment. _She_ was the Night Fury both hidden and trapped in the gorge, _she_ was the dragon everyone wanted the honor of shooting down. She couldn't help but wonder how long it would take until some girl followed Hiccup into the woods and tried to kill her. Perhaps the most frightening part of it all was that one already had. And now, that girl was about to become _her._

Toothless seemed to have read her thoughts, though she was sure she hadn't projected them. " _It's not so bad down here. The lake can be nice to swim in, and you can run under the waterfall if you like. If you wanted to, I could teach you how to make a bed of hot coals with your-"_

" _No! No,"_ she shook her head quickly, " _There's no way I'm learning to breathe fire. And I'm DEFINITELY not learning how to fly. Hiccup will find a way to bring me back quickly, I know it."_

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Toothless raise an eyebrow, but ignored it.

Another minute passed, and Hiccup glanced up at the sky again. The sun had not yet fully set, but the stars were already starting to become visible, dotting the dark blue sky with scattered pinpoints of white.

He stood up, making Toothless flinch, and turn to look at him. "We should probably get back. You know how much I hate to rush this with her, but we really can't waste much more time."

Astrid had to admit, it was admirable to see that Hiccup at least recognized the time limit they were working with. On top of that, he had taken charge in trying to sort things out since the moment he had realized who she was, which was a side of him she rarely saw.

As they walked back through the woods, Astrid glanced at the walls of the gorge, trying to judge how much space she would have in the coming days. This would be her new home, she realized.

* * *

When they reached the lake, all of them were relieved to find both the girl and Stormfly fully intact, though neither acting like close pals, either. Syl was leaning up against a tree with her arms crossed, and Stormfly was once again nestled like a bird next to the lake, with her head tucked into her wings. It seemed as though they had barely moved since the three of them had left.

"So," Hiccup asked shyly, "Did you… Uh…?"

Syl rolled her eyes and shrugged. "Yeah, we did your stupid bonding ritual. No magic sparks or anything, though. A bit of a let-down, to be honest. For a moment there I almost thought I was about to find your magical, 'Oh, dragons and humans are perfect together!' connection, but nope. Nothing."

" _Toothless?"_ Astrid asked, but he was one step ahead of her, already talking to Stormfly in his guttural dragon language. He frowned as he listened to her response, and turned back to Astrid once she had finished.

" _So?"_

" _Well, they did bond. But… Apparently, she had an interesting… Youth, as you'd call it. Something about her father dying and her mother, and… A lot about her brother, too."_

" _Wow. So… All dragons have that connection when they bond with a human?"_

Toothless nodded. " _It's strange, isn't it? All of these years, and we didn't even know this kind of connection could exist. But since the end of the raids… Well, it's as though a whole new world of possibilities has opened up for us that we didn't know about."_

" _Weird. Did she tell you anything else about what happened?"_

He shook his head. " _No, the bonding's become quite the private experience between us and humans, as I'm sure you can imagine. Honestly, I'm surprised she was willing to tell us as much as she did. She still hasn't told me about her experience with you."_

" _Oh, Gods…"_ Astrid had never even thought about it. For a brief moment, Stormfly had lived her life, too, just as she had lived through Hiccup's when they bonded. Yet still, she could remember the first time _he_ had bonded with Toothless in near perfect detail, despite the fact that she hadn't even been there _._ This made her wonder, did every dragon have a specific memory from their rider's life? And if so, what had Stormfly's been with Syl? Or Toothless's with Hiccup? Then she realized she was starting to sound like Hiccup herself.

"So…" Hiccup asked, "Are you ready to start flying?"

Syl sneered. "Let's just get this over with. I don't intend to do any more than I have to."

They both walked over to Stormfly, leaving Astrid standing there with Toothless. " _I should probably go help them. I know Stormfly a lot better than Hiccup does."_

She took a step forward, before Toothless spoke in her mind again, forcing her to stop, and look back at him. " _Astrid?"_

" _Yeah, Toothless?"_

" _I'm… I'm sorry this happened to you."_

She blinked. Had he just… Apologized? " _Uh… Okay. It's not your fault, you know. It's her's."_

" _Yeah, but… Well, none of us ever apologized for this, and… Well, I thought it might be nice. Something you needed."_

" _Well, um,"_ She turned back to face Toothless, noting his suddenly worried but still confident gaze. " _Thank you, Toothless."_

He nodded, and sat back down, seemingly deep in thought.

Though she was able to hear their conversation from where she had been standing easily enough, she had toned them out, choosing not to listen until she was closer. Of all her senses, her hearing had never been her best, and thus her newfound ability to hear a bird chirp in the forest almost a mile away was frightening enough in itself, on top of the other changes. Toning out the sounds she could tell came from far away was a skill she had quickly acquired since the transformation. And so, she chose not to listen until she was close enough to hear it, were she still human.

"... Pretty simple. Much simpler than riding anything else, in fact. With Toothless's tailfin it's a bit different, but on Stormfly you just need to tell her where to go, and she'll take you there. It's that easy."

"You certainly make it sound that way," she told him sarcastically.

"It is! Just trust me. I'll get on Stormfly, and you climb on back, alright? We'll just circle around a few times and then land back down here again. Then you can try."

She shrugged, obviously trying hard not to show how utterly terrified she really was. Nonetheless, she bravely hopped onto Stormfly's back once again, grabbing onto Hiccup's shoulder, and making him wince. "Alright, Stormfly," He leaned down and whispered into the Nadder's ear, but Astrid still heard him. "Just take us around the ravine a few times. Then we'll land back here. Gently."

Astrid couldn't help but feel an odd pang of _something_ as she watched them take off into the night sky. Was it jealousy? It couldn't be. This was all planned, as well as necessary. Yet still, seeing the two of them on Stormfly's back, Syl wearing her clothes and holding her arms around Hiccup's chest, made her want to punch someone in the face. Unfortunately, she hadn't yet figured out how to make a fist with her paw yet, though she was more than willing to learn.

As Hiccup had told her to do, Stormfly circled the ravine twice, then landed, letting Hiccup climb off, and Syl move up to the front of the saddle as far as she could, looking only slightly queasy. Still, it was enough to make Astrid smile.

"Alright," He told her. "Just tell Stormfly what you want her to do."

"Make my mother love me again, maybe?" Astrid heard her mutter under her breath before she leaned down slightly towards the dragon's ear. "Uh, once around the ravine, I guess. And don't kill me, either. Thanks." Stormfly lifted off into the air, and Syl was barely able to suppress a slight scream as she lifted off. She grabbed onto the saddle and trying to flatten herself against it.

It took slightly longer than when Hiccup had gone with her, given that Stormfly had taken extra precautions to ensure that the ride would be smooth and gentle. Yet still, Syl was breathing heavily when she climbed off and grinning like a madman.

But the grin dropped as soon as she saw Hiccup, and she returned to her normal, annoyed glare. "That's over with. What next?"

He sighed, and looked at the sky, which had lost almost all of the sun's light, the stars by then quite clearly visible. "Well, I suppose we could risk a fire. I doubt anyone will be out looking this late, so we could probably make camp here. We're on the other end of the island, anyway, and there's a mountain separating us from the village, so we should be fine."

Hiccup and Syl went to gather firewood from the forest, leaving Toothless, Astrid and Stormfly waiting next to the lake.

" _Hey Toothless,"_ She said, remembering something she had wanted to ask him about earlier. " _If we can do this… Mind-talk thing, do you think you can do it with Hiccup?"_

He tilted his head, thinking. " _I… I've never tried it. It might work! Gods, imagine, Astrid! We could finally talk to each other! We could… We could..."_ His thought faded, and he settled for simply grinning, his eyes shimmering, as though imagining the possibilities.

Astrid rolled her eyes. " _Gods, you're worse than Hiccup. Why can't you just write like me, anyways? Didn't Hiccup try to teach you?"_

He frowned. " _Yes, but… I didn't understand the symbols. And it takes too long, as well. I don't know how you can stand it."_

She shrugged, and dropped the subject. They waited there in silence for a moment. Toothless stood up, and, without warning, breathed a steady stream of fire at the ground in a circle around him, making Astrid jump.

" _Gods!"_ She yelled. " _Toothless, what the hell?!"_

" _What?"_ He asked, lying down inside the circle once he had finished. " _It's nice."_

" _Nice? It's fire! And you nearly scared the skin off me!"_

" _You have scales, not skin now, Astrid."_

" _Whatever! Just tell me next time, alright?"_

He shrugged, and walked over to her. " _It's so comfortable to lay down in, though! Do you want to try it?"_

Her mouth fell open. " _Wha- TRY it?! Are you crazy?! I thought I told you I don't want to be a dragon! I'm not going to breathe fire!"_

" _No, no,"_ he told her, " _Here, I'll do it for you."_

Before she could send another thought, he was already circling her, breathing out a steady stream of fire at the ground around her, and forcing her to lift up her feet when he nearly went straight over them.

He stepped back and looked at her once he finished, meeting her venomous glare with curiously innocent eyes. He sighed when she tried to step out of it. " _Please, Astrid. Your hide is armored, it won't burn you. Try it, just this once."_

She kept up her glare but pulled her foot back into the circle. " _Fine. But I swear to the Gods if this burns me, I will make you wish you never hatched."_

Slowly, she lowered her rear and tail onto the ground, then laid down her front, hesitating on her head. Her eyes slowly widened as she felt the warmth of the ground touch her neck.

In a very un-Viking-like manner, she started to roll around in the burnt grass, purring happily, and trying to ensure as much of her body as possible was touching the rim. It felt _amazing!_ Like a warm feast wrapped up in a blanket. She had been warm enough as it was, but to feel a warmth coming from _outside_ of her? It was incredible, and she felt as though she could lie there forever. She didn't speak until she was sure she had covered as much of her body as possible in the warmth.

" _This is amazing! How have I not done this before?!"_

Toothless seemed to smirk. " _Maybe because heat like that would melt your flesh off if you were still human."_

She looked down at the burnt ground with a newfound respect. This wasn't just heat, it was _fire,_ and she was lying right in it. In fact, the circle was still smoking in some places, the ground not yet cooled.

" _Weird…"_ She thought. " _All my life I've been told to stay away from the fire. It was even my job to put them out during the war. And now… I'm immune to it."_

" _Well, don't go flying in the old nest,"_ Toothless warned her. " _I'll admit that I've never seen a dragon burned to death, but I saw an old… What do you call them? A Zippleback, lose its wings over the magma, once… Needless to say, no one ever saw it again. I guess some flames we just can't endure."_

Suddenly, Astrid realized the spot she was sitting on was growing cold, the warmth from a moment before becoming less and less present against her chest. She was extinguishing the flame! Quickly, she wriggled over to the other side of the circle, once again purring as she felt the warmth against her stomach. Once she had settled into a comfortable spot, she let out a long, high _coo_ that reverberated against the wall of the ravine. She felt as though she were in a state of perfect bliss. And then it was all stripped away.

"Uh... Astrid?" She sucked in her breath, praying to the Gods that she had only heard the voice in her mind, but she knew she hadn't. Climbing to her feet, she slowly turned around… To find Hiccup and Syl standing there with their mouths hanging open, each holding small bundles of twigs in their arms. She squeezed her eyes shut, praying again that they hadn't seen what she was doing, but once again, she already knew they had.

After a moment, she gathered up the courage to reopen them. Slowly, Syl's arms went limp, and the twigs she had been holding fell to the ground softly. Gradually at first, she began to nod, then increased the pace, and looked around the clearing as though there was a crowd there watching her. She threw her hands in the air. "I knew it. I KNEW IT! Your girlfriend's gone absolutely crazy! The dragon side of her brain's taken over! Gods, I _so_ called it! We need to leave her here, _now,_ before she eats us both!"

"What? No! She's not going to eat us, and she's not crazy! She's just fine!"

Pausing for a moment, he turned back to look at her.

"Um... you _are_ fine, right?"

Eyes widening, she nodded frantically. Of course, she was fine! She had just… Gotten ahead of herself. She hadn't been paying attention, and had just let her instincts get out of control, that was all. Even in her head, the argument sounded pathetic.

Hiccup waved his hands, trying to calm her down. "No, no, we're fine! We're all fine, here! Astrid's just a bit… Tired. To be honest, I think we're all kind of tired. I know we're supposed to look like we haven't slept in days, but we could all use some rest if you ask me. We'll just have to work extra hard in the morning."

"Fine," Syl crossed her arms across her chest, defiantly. "But I'm not falling asleep until _she_ does." She pointed at Astrid accusingly.

She shrugged, and settled back down onto the ring. It was no longer smoking, but a little bit of warmth still seeped through.

She watched the stars as Hiccup lit the fire. The sun had completely set by then, plunging the world under a dark blanket, lit only by the hundreds of tiny white dots in the sky, and faint crescent moon.

Toothless lit the bundle of twigs with a small ball of fire shot from his mouth, accompanied by a high-pitched version of the screech that normally came with one of his blasts. Syl jumped, obviously expecting to be roasted alive, but sighed with relief when she saw the fire had been lit. Glaring at the two Night Furies throughout, she crawled over to the fire, and curled herself up into as tight a ball as she could.

Hiccup shivered and scooted over to Astrid. "I'm still a bit cold. How about you?" His eyes widened for a moment as he realized what he had said. "Oh, I mean, ugh, never mind. Stupid question." He turned back to look at Syl for a moment. "We can't afford to lose too much time. We'll sleep for a few hours, then get started a few hours before dawn. We still need to get you ready."

"Good thing I'm a light sleeper." She told them ominously, before rolling over to face the lake. An onlooker might've thought she was asleep, but Astrid knew she was wide awake, still listening to them, mistrustful.

Worried, she turned to look at Hiccup. He was gazing off over the glistening lake, likely already thinking about the last project he had left in the smithing shop back in the village or everything she and Toothless had told him about Night Furies in the past day. Nonetheless, she was happy to see him turn back around when he heard her move, waiting for her to speak her mind.

 **I'VE BEEN A DRAGON FOR TWO DAYS.**

He frowned and began to tap his finger against his knee rhythmically. "Well, I haven't had a chance to look into this, at least not yet. Once I get back to the village, I promise I'll-"

She groaned.

 **IT'S NOT THAT.**

 **I'M AFRAID, HICCUP.**

 **I DON'T UNDERSTAND ANY OF THIS.**

 **I DON'T LIKE THIS PLAN,**

 **AND I DON'T WANT TO STAY DOWN HERE FOREVER.**

"I…" He paused for a moment, searching for the right words. "I don't know what to say. I don't understand any of this either, Astrid, and I wish we didn't have to do this, but…" -he looked straight up into her eyes- "I promise you, Astrid Hofferson, You will not stay in this ravine forever. I swear it on my life, in the sight of the Gods." He sat back after a moment. Then he rose up to his feet and turned to walk back to the fire. But Astrid whimpered, a bit more meekly than she would have preferred, and he turned around just as he took his first step towards Syl.

 **HICCUP,**

She wrote, embarrassed,

 **COULD YOU STAY HERE?**

Hiccup's eyes widened, and he glanced at Toothless, who shrugged, laid his head on his paws, closed his eyes, and wrapped his tail around him. Hiccup rolled his eyes, carefully crawled over to her, and curled himself up against her side, in a similar way to how he had fit into the cavity next to her leg earlier that day. Once again, she felt that swell of power, but this time, it was more reassuring than anything else. Pushing it aside, she turned back to Toothless.

" _Hey,"_

He opened an eye lazily and yawned. " _Yes?"_

" _Don't you want to test the mind-thing on Hiccup?"_

" _Oh,"_ he glanced at the boy curled up next to Astrid, before closing his eye. " _We'll just try it tomorrow."_

She frowned, and watched him for a moment.

" _Toothless?"_

He looked back up at her, slightly annoyed, this time. " _Yes, Astrid?"_

Her frown deepened as she tried to remember. " _Earlier, you said it was terrifying being trapped down here. You said you felt like… Prey, waiting to be eaten. But you were about to say something else. That you almost…?"_

He sighed, letting a snort out through his nose. " _I did feel like prey down here. I was amazed that Hiccup even set me free, and with a lost fin… I thought I would never fly again."_ He shook his head and sighed. _"Not only that, but I felt like I had an obligation to go back to the nest. They needed me! The raids would fail without me! So many would be seen and captured with those spires you built still standing. I had to find a way to fly, but…"_

He hesitated for a moment, and she once again got the feeling there was something he wasn't telling her. " _But… What?"_

He looked up at her, with what she could only describe as an extremely anguished mixture of hatred and regret.

" _I… I knew I had to get out, but… I almost didn't want to."_


	11. The Return

**Hey, everyone…**

 **Yes, this is really,** _ **really**_ **late. Almost, what, five weeks? Wow. Probably the latest chapter I've uploaded so far. In terms of writing this story, I've been slacking off quite a bit lately, as well, and for that, my fine readers, have my most sincere of apologies. There's no excuse for that, aside from the fact that I'm slowly trying to transition into a new writing process that involves me doing a more thorough dissection, analysis and review of these chapters before uploading. I've been somewhat disappointed in my lack of doing so in the past few, as I've really just been putting them out as fast as I can, which is still, in most cases, behind schedule. Regardless of whether I deem them 'tolerable' or not when I upload them, it's still unprofessional of me, and a bad reflection of my time management skills.**

 **It turns out that summer is probably an even** _ **worse**_ **time for me to work on this, as well, since I can't keep a solid schedule that involves me writing every night, or even every few days. Terrible, I know. But I'm selfish, and I don't want to put out these chapters until I'm satisfied with them (to an extent) which means that they will take slightly longer to write, unfortunately. Hopefully I'll be a lot more organized someday, as well as capable of updating this story more often. Overall, I just procrastinate a lot. But to make up for it, I've written the longest chapter in this story so far, tallying in at about twenty-** _ **thousand**_ **words. This means that we're also about to breach the hundred-thousand word mark, too. Woohoo!**

 **Finally, I hope you all enjoy and be sure to leave a comment and follow for updates. (And to those of you who have: thank you so much. You're the reason I'm writing this!)**

 **I don't own How to Train Your Dragon.**

* * *

Astrid was the first one up.

She had always been, at least in her family. Of course, most Vikings in Berk had grown used to waking up before dawn by a young age, mainly due to the dragon attacks that almost always struck in the middle of the night, randomly and without warning. Fishlegs had once claimed he'd found a pattern the dragons seemed to be following with the raids and had foolishly agreed to a bet proposing that he stand outside in the village square on one of the nights he had predicted would go without an attack. It showed promise at first - Vikings watched hopefully out of the cracks between their doors and windows, and even the Chief took a night off of his normal duties to observe, and for a moment, it seemed like he was right, and that they had _finally_ found a method to the dragons' chaotic madness… Until a Monstrous Nightmare suddenly swooped down out of the sky, set fire to a shed, and nearly bit the boy's head off. The morale of Berk dropped low once again, the raids continued as spontaneously as they had always been, and three months of Fishlegs's research were for naught. Though perhaps he had been right - maybe that night had just been a fluke. Then again, even _he_ gave up on that research after that day. She would have to ask Toothless if he knew anything about it that day.

 _That day._

That day would be the day that her life would change forever. She would no longer be, 'Astrid, the missing warrior-girl in the woods, second in dragon training and rider of Stormfly' after that day. No, instead, she would only be, 'Astrid, the dragon-girl in the ravine whose only hope was a boy who can't lift a plank and the girl who got them into this whole mess'. She wouldn't be anybody, really. In fact, she would _cease to exist_ from that day forward, assuming Hiccup's plan went absolutely perfectly, which was seeming less and less likely with every word that left Syl's mouth _._ Still, the thought was hard to imagine. Not only were there just two people that knew she existed, but only _one that even cared about what happened to her!_ On top of that, Syl would be living _her life!_ Wearing _her_ clothes, eating _her_ food, talking to _her_ friends, riding _her dragon!_ It was completely insane! And for a moment, she felt a strange surge of _resentment_ towards _Heather_ rise up in her throat again, and she had to restrain herself from growling. At least _Heather_ hadn't known what was happening. She had been locked up in her cell, completely ignorant to the complex scheme Astrid and Hiccup were hatching outside. How would _she_ have felt if she had known what they were doing? The same as Astrid felt, stuck in that tiny, stupid ravine like a caged animal?

And suddenly, sitting there in the cool, blissfully quiet clearing as the only one awake, Astrid had that _feeling_ again. That rotten, guttural _feeling_ that rose up in her throat like bile after a particularly rocky Dragonflight. A _feeling_ that she had become all too well acquainted with in the past few days.

 _Fear._

Fear that Hiccup would never find a way to cure her. Fear that Syl would try to kill him while she was stuck in that terrible ravine, or worse. Fear that she would miss out on her life, or turn full-dragon. But most of all, fear of the _unknown._

Toothless might have been right about his opinion of his rider and the Queen, but his time in the ravine had been entirely different. Of course, he would want to stay! Hiccup brought him plenty of fish, and fixed his tail, and he could live in the at least moderately comfortable knowledge that he was _stuck_ down there. There was _nothing_ he could possibly do to get out, so why even try?

But she had a _choice._ She _could_ get out if she wanted to, even if it involved a bit of flying and gliding, as well as some climbing, something she dreaded to even consider. On top of that, she never had to go down there in the first place - she could've run back to the village, dragon or not, and begged them to accept her once again. Perhaps it would have worked. Perhaps Stoick knew some small, little-known fact about magic - for she was sure it was magic - that Gothi didn't, as strange as the notion was.

In fact, she could probably climb out right then, if she wanted to. She could find a way up in the landslide that had apparently collapsed a part of the cliff before. She was much larger than she was before, and she knew that she could jump and leap much higher and farther than she ever could have, as well. She had claws, too - at their full extent, they were practically knives, capable of slicing through and locking into dirt and stone like the roots of a thousand-year-old tree dug deep into the soil. And if worst came to worst… She could fly out. The thought sent shivers down her scaly spine, and so she dismissed it almost immediately. But if it meant a way back to her life…

 _If I want to…_

Slowly, she got up, and glanced around at the others sleeping in the clearing, trying to assess whether any were nearly awake. Syl had claimed to be a light sleeper, but as she had suspected, it had been little more than an idle threat, as she appeared to be snoring at a level comparable to Gobber after a night of one too many drinks and a dozen too many chicken wings. Stormfly was still curled up next to the lake, almost as deep in sleep as her new but temporary rider. She had never been an early bird, either, and Astrid often had to drag her out of the pen next to their house even if there was an emergency, never mind if she felt like going out flying early in the morning. Toothless, she knew, was often the first one up in Stoick's household, as he loved to go out flying with Hiccup, given that he was limited to the ground without him. But even the offspring of lightning and death itself wasn't up that early, likely having grown at least somewhat lazy since the raids ended, and they no longer needed to bring food back to their 'Queen', as Toothless called it. Still, she couldn't help but note how tense his body was, powerful lungs visibly raising and lowering as air entered and left his nose. She had that same power as well now, she knew.

Hiccup had eventually crawled out of the small nook behind Astrid's front leg, curling up in a ball next to the burnt-out fire. He had grown up in Berk and had obviously gotten quite used to waking up in the middle of the night to sharpen and fix weapons for a sudden and unprecedented raid on the village. He didn't brag about it - everybody knew that from an early age he had wanted to be with the firefighters, like Astrid and the rest of the kids he was by then already starting to be outcast by. Truthfully, she had been surprised he hadn't beefed up any during his time with Gobber - the swords and axes might not have been _that heavy_ , but still, it was almost incredible that he hadn't grown any muscle at all, with the exercise he had to do. In a way, his job was one of the hardest in the village, though of course, nobody ever told him that. He'd simply had a knack for it since birth, drawing up some designs that impressed even Gobber by the time he was eight, not that anyone besides him ever considered building them.

Nonetheless, it confirmed her suspicions - deep sleep or not, nobody else was awake, which meant that no one would see her if she ran away, nor realize it until much later. At least, not if she did it very, very quietly.

Syl was right about one thing - stealth wasn't something Astrid practiced often… But that didn't mean she wasn't good at it. A true warrior had to be proficient in every category of combat, she knew. That included sneaking around, among other things, cowardly as it may have been. Syl had obviously committed much more of her life to learning how to travel unseen, and was much better at it, loathe as Astrid was to admit it.

Still, despite weighing over a thousand pounds, Night Furies were infamous for their ability to blend in with shadows and the night sky, not to mention their deadly silence in battle. So she could be just as silent or invisible as Toothless… Right?

Slowly, she stood up on all fours, and tentatively put a foot towards the ravine wall closest to her. Her eyes quickly darted around to the others, terrified that one of them had stirred. But no one appeared to have moved, or shown any sign of hearing her at all. Exhaling slowly first, she put another foot forward, then another, then another, devoting all of her energy towards not falling over, or stepping anywhere she might regret. She slowly moved past Hiccup, then Syl, trying to keep as far away from them as physically possible. When she was sure that she was far away enough from the group, she exhaled once again and relaxed her muscles ever so slightly.

Suddenly, she felt _something_ rub up against _something else_ , and she froze, terrified that somebody had grabbed her, or even that she had brushed a shrub she hadn't seen by accident. She heard Hiccup groan behind her, and something told her that she had forgotten about something very, _very_ important. Holding her breath, she slowly turned her head to look, before whipping it back a moment later, feeling her muscles tighten up even more as she quickly realized what had happened.

The tail. _Her_ tail.

She had forgotten about her tail!

Her right tailfin had brushed along Hiccup's left side and was partially laying between his chest and right hand. Whilst he hadn't seemed to have woken up yet, he had shifted slightly when he felt it, quite nearly pinching the fin between his arm and chest. It wasn't touching his skin anywhere, and wasn't weighing on him heavily enough to be noticeable, she knew, but if she kept moving forward, the fin would continue to slide up into the crook of his arm, and eventually up to his shoulder.

She _could_ just keep walking forward, and hope that the fin would just travel out above his arm and fall back to the ground, though it was a risk she didn't really want to take, given that it was much more likely to brush against his face and wake him up, or become even more trapped under his arm. She could also try backing up, though considering that she could barely even stand just two days before, and still had to focus hard in order to manage to then, it wasn't really a route she wanted to try, either.

 _Why do you even care?_ A small voice inside of her suddenly spoke up. _It's Hiccup. If you wake him up, he'll probably let you go, anyway. He's not really the kind to argue, and if he DOES try to stop you… Well, what is he going to do? He's not even in the position to stop you as a human, never mind a dragon._

 _Well,_ she thought, arguing with the voice, and starting to wonder if she WAS going crazy, _I'll feel terrible if I have to tell him I want to just abandon all of this, and him. Besides, I'm not REALLY running away. At least, not yet. This is just a… Training exercise._ The more she thought about it, the truer the lie seemed. Even if she was rather well hidden within the gorge, it would be good for her to learn to move around quietly, especially given the fact that she would probably be down there for a few days, if not more, while Hiccup found the cure. She had no idea who might be out searching for food or just out for a hunt during the next few days or weeks, never mind those she knew must have been searching for her the past few days. Of course, navigating around a few sleeping Vikings wasn't exactly the same as evading a search party whilst trapped in a tiny, open ravine...

Run back to the Village or not, neither choice fixed her predicament. Though she hated the idea, she knew there was only one other way to get out of it - she would have to move the tail of her own accord.

First, she tried to relax her muscles - whilst the adrenaline wasn't fully pumping through her veins yet, she was still much more rigid than she would have preferred, and a single flinch could set the whole thing awry. Next, she checked around one last time to ensure that nobody had woken up since she had last looked back. It was always good to look twice, something she had learned the hard way.

She stared back at the tail - _her_ tail - and screamed a little on the inside. How?! How was she supposed to do this without Toothless-

 _No,_ she told herself, _No, Toothless isn't going to be here. It'll just be me in a few hours. I've always done things on my own, and now isn't a time to start leaning on others for help. I can do this!_

Building up a bit of confidence, she sucked in as loud a breath as she dared, and released it, focusing on her tail throughout. She tried to remember what Toothless had told her - it was just another limb, right? Like a hand, or a leg. She had already gotten used to her claws and oddly-shaped feet. This was just another one, but… Longer. How hard could it be?

Slowly, she tried to relax her mind and accept the tail as a part of her body, as much as the voice inside her head screamed at her not to. It wasn't so much finally feeling it, as it was no longer ignoring it, as she felt the muscles in the extension begin to flex and contract under the sudden release. At that moment, she realized just how _powerful_ the limb was - as strong as her legs or neck, if not more so. Until then, she had done her best to ignore the thing, or block out its feeling, letting it just drag on the ground behind her, and leave a thin trail wherever she went. But now, she could finally appreciate the sheer _force_ she could put into it, and she suddenly remembered all of the times Toothless had successfully disarmed or even knocked an enemy Viking off of their feet with a smooth, graceful flick from behind him. With one graceful _swish,_ he could completely immobilize an enemy, and now, so could she.

Cautiously, she tried to move a small section of the tail up in the center and quickly sucked in her breath as she watched it respond to her command. Above everything else, it was the fact of how instantaneous it was that amazed her. But why wouldn't it be? It was just like another arm, as Toothless had said, except longer, and more… _Flexible._

Once she had gotten over the strange excitement of watching it move, and practiced with that small section enough so that she believed that she could move on to the whole thing, she took another deep breath, and let it out through her nostrils, trying to focus. Once again, she gazed on in amazement as the tail slowly moved upwards above Hiccup, until the tailfin lodged between Hiccup's arm and chest was fully uncovered and raised up above him. With a little bit of effort, she could tell that she could even flex the tailfins, as well, in the same way that one might open and close their fist, but she wasn't ready for that. Not yet.

Still focusing on Hiccup the entire time, she slowly moved forward once again, making sure to keep her tail well elevated above Hiccup as she did. When she was sure she was well past Hiccup, she relaxed all of the muscles in the tail and watched it fall onto the soft dirt with a dull _THUD._ She was already much more used to it than she wanted to admit.

She experimented with the tail for a few more minutes, swishing it back and forth slowly across the ground like a snake trying to swim upstream. While she didn't plan on acknowledging it to the extent that she just had for the rest of the time she was there, it certainly wouldn't hurt to at least know _how_ to adjust it, strangely normal as the feeling may have been.

That was when she realized; she was out.

She quickly glanced around the ravine. It only took her a second for her to find a few spots newly revealed by the recent landslide that _might_ have been enough for her to climb out with… But there was only one way to find out.

This was it, she knew. If she climbed out then, she could _really_ get out this time. She could run back to the Village, and plead for them to keep her there. It would be her last chance to do so, she knew. And otherwise… She could always just run away. There would be nobody there to stop her this time, nobody to run ahead and convince or force her to come back. Nobody else would realize she had left, at least not for a few hours. And even if they did… Maybe Hiccup would understand, and Stormfly, too. Maybe he could convince Syl to _really_ take over her life, as horrible as the suggestion was. Astrid could run away, and just become another dragon in the woods, like all of the others on Berk… She could do it… He wouldn't have to worry about curing her anymore, wouldn't have the problem she had become on his mind. For that's all she was - a _problem._

She could do it… She could run away, and never look back...

Frowning, she turned her back to the wall. She could, but she wouldn't. She did trust Hiccup - he could find her a cure, and he _would_ find her a cure. Their plan would work, crazy as it may have been. And on top of that, there was something else inside of her, something she felt for him that she just couldn't explain. But she had always gone with her gut instinct, and this time, it told her to trust Hiccup, which, insane as the prospect was, she had to do. For him.

She padded back over to Hiccup, and nudged him lightly with her snout. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, with his eyes still closed, he reached his arm up and felt her snout, then her ears, then her widely stretched mouth, and even pushed up one of her lips to feel her teeth, before letting his arm fall back to his side, curling up slightly and shivering under his fur vest.

"Not now, bud," he moaned sleepily, "I told you I can't go flying this early. It hurts my legs, and it's too dark."

So, he thought she was his pet dragon. Wonderful.

She nudged him again, a little bit harder.

He groaned. "Bud, the sun's not even up yet," he sat up to his knees and rubbed his eyelids. "I don't know why you're so anxious. You're not usually up _this-_ "

He blinked. "Uh, Toothless? You're looking a little… Pale…"

His eyes widened. "To- I mean, Astrid! S-Sorry about, um… I didn't know you were..." He jumped up to his feet, his weariness suddenly gone. Then, he rushed over to Toothless - the _real_ Toothless - and roughly shook him awake, obviously trying to get out of the situation as quickly as possible.

"Hey, bud, wake up! We gotta get going!" Slowly, Toothless opened his eyes, and grumbled, obviously unused to being woken up by someone else. It must've been odd for him, she realized - he was usually up long before Hiccup, and yet here he was being shaken awake by his rider in the middle of the night.

He purred softly, and stood up on all fours, taking note of his surroundings, and grunted.

After sending the best angry glare she could muster towards Hiccup, Astrid walked over to Stormfly, and nudged her wing, deciding she'd rather wake her up herself, given everything else she _hadn't_ been able to do lately. The Nadder garbled at her, and rocked side to side for a moment, adjusting her position, before falling silent again. Astrid groaned - even as a dragon, she obviously still wouldn't have the easiest time waking the Nadder up - they were notoriously late sleepers, after all.

Abandoning the quest for the moment, Astrid walked back over to Hiccup and Toothless, who were apparently having a problem of their own.

"Should we, uh…" Hiccup asked nobody in particular, staring down at the still very much asleep Syl. Sighing, Astrid marched up to the girl - Hiccup had never been good with these things, anyway - and nudged her slightly, as she had with him. Syl didn't move and continued snoring. Frowning, Astrid nudged her again, but still got no response. She looked back up at Hiccup, who only shrugged.

"Well, I don't know! She needs to get up, though. I'm just not sure how-"

Before he could finish his sentence, Toothless nudged in between the two of them, bent his head down over Syl, and, in one slurp, covered her entire face in warm dragon saliva.

Syl jumped up, and took a huge breath, as though coming up for air after a long time underwater. Her eyes widened as she brought her hand up to touch her face, feeling the damp stickiness all over her skin.

" _Please_ don't tell me this is what I think it is, or I swear to the Gods…"

She glanced up at Toothless, who pulled his tongue back into his mouth just a second too late.

Upon seeing this, Syl delicately took a slow, smooth breath, calmly wiped her brow, and closed her eyes. Then, she snapped them back open, shot up, screeched at the top of her lungs, ran to the lake, and jumped in headfirst.

Toothless turned to Astrid, his eyes widened innocently. " _Did I do something wrong?"_ He asked.

She smirked back at him. " _No, not at all."_

It took several minutes of convincing and then almost half an hour of frantic squealing to get Syl out of the lake. Even then, she didn't dare stand within twenty feet of Toothless, under the accusation that he had "cursed" her with his "evil, disgusting and humiliating dragon-spit". Whilst this only seemed to further prove Astrid's hypothesis that this girl had been raised on a feather bed her entire life, she couldn't really blame her - she had been "cleaned" by Stormfly enough times, and couldn't deny that it wasn't the most pleasurable experience. Of course, it took _hours_ of scrubbing in the washbin just to clean it all out, and the smell always lingered for days, anyway.

"Well," Hiccup pronounced as Syl leaned up against a rock, soaking and shivering in the frigid early morning air. "It's probably a good thing that you had a bit of a bath before we start… I guess. But you'll still have to look pretty beat up before we leave in a few hours."

"St-Start?" Syl stuttered through chattering teeth, looking up at him weakly. Her hair was pasted down to her forehead, and stuck to her neck and shoulders like thin strips of cloth - the braid she had meticulously crafted a few days before had completely fallen apart the moment she jumped into the water. She was leaning against one of the rocks near the lake, shivering under one of Hiccup's old spare fur vests that he had offered her, much to Astrid's ire. The satisfaction of seeing Syl so miserable was barely enough to sate her anger towards her, and she reminded herself to thank Toothless later on for causing all of it.

Hiccup nodded and smiled slyly. "Well, yeah, though I guess 'start' wouldn't be the best way to put it, given that you're already wearing your, er, _Astrid's_ clothes." She growled menacingly from behind him, and he quickly spun around and mouthed the word "sorry" before turning back to Syl.

"But don't worry. Since we've gone over most of Astrid's life, we can move onto the, um, _physical_ transformation…" He glanced back at Astrid again and frowned, and she heard him mutter something along the lines of, "... Bad choice of words," before spinning back around to Syl again.

"But the point is, you won't have to do much for this part. I've got all of the stuff we need right here," he patted the bag slung over his shoulder, and grinned at her.

Syl stared up at him and shook slightly again, before asking, "Ph- Physical tr- transformation? Wha… What does that mean?"

"Well, you saw how Astrid looked, right? Before she… _Changed,_ that is." Syl frowned but nodded.

"I- I wasn't able to see very well, but… I think I remember."

Hiccup shook his head. "Well, you might have her clothes, but you still don't look much like her. Your face is similar enough, I think. With a bit powder and dye, we can probably make you look bruised up enough so that people won't notice the differences."

 _Or we could just beat the snot out of her until even WE don't recognize her perfect face anymore,_ Astrid fantasized, grinning at the thought of finally getting some proper revenge.

Syl frowned back at him and shivered, pulling on the vest. "But… Bruises heal. If I do this for more than one day - which is _not_ what I'm saying - but if I do… How will you explain that? Just say I have some sort of 'magical' bumps and bruises that never go away? And how would I get them, anyway? You haven't told me _any_ of your plans yet, which, given the position I'm about to go into here, seems _kind of_ important, don't you think?"

He sat down, and laid his back against Toothless, looking Syl right in the eyes. "I promise, we will tell you the plan… Eventually. And there are no more tricks either, okay? Nothing to surprise you with, here. I think we can both agree that we're done with lies. They won't get us anywhere. As to the bruises… Well, I'll think of something when the time comes. Until then… This'll have to do. And don't worry, either - you won't look like a _complete_ wreck."

Syl looked down at herself for a moment, considering what he had said. "Alright, then… What about the rest of this… Physical transformation? Tell me what _that_ involves, at least."

Hiccup shrugged, and pulled a small jar of yellow powder, a flask, and the mysterious vial of the liquid from the day before out, and set them all out on the ground in front of them.

Syl nodded her head towards the vial. "What's that? Some kind of potion?"

He frowned, following her gaze. "No… Yes… I don't know, really. Gothi gave it to me, and she told me to… Well, I'll tell you later. It's the, erm, _final step_."

Syl rolled her eyes, obviously unimpressed. Hiccup picked up the flask. "Anyway, about the disguise: this is for your hair. You mix the powder with the water in the flask, run it over your head, and _BOOM!_ Blonde hair, just like Astrid's. It's probably a good thing your hair's already wet, but... I guess I'm not sure. I don't really do this stuff very often."

"I sure hope not…" Syl muttered, taking the flask from his hand and reaching for the powder.

She poured the entire jar into the flask immediately, covered the top with her hand, then shook it. Hiccup looked around awkwardly for a moment in silence, before adding, "Oh, and, uh… She usually wears a braid like yours, too, but without parting her hair off. Just behind her back."

Syl reached up to touch her forehead, and her eyes widened, as she suddenly started grasping around her head frantically. "Oh, _Gods!_ My - I mean, your headband! It must've fallen off when I jumped in the lake!"

Astrid growled at the girl - she had disappointed her _far_ too many times already, and this was the last straw. She was _losing her things?!_ Next thing she knew, her axe would be gone, then some of her clothes, then her _friends_ \- but before she could make a move, she heard what sounded like a loud pounding from behind her, which was followed by a loud splash, and she turned around just in time to see Toothless's red tailfin disappear into the lake. Glancing at each other first, Hiccup and Astrid ran up to the edge to look, but he had completely disappeared under the water, with only a few bubbles of air coming up every few seconds.

Then, after a moment of intense silence, he resurfaced triumphantly, with something small and leather-bound hanging out of his mouth. Delicately, he walked over to Syl, dripping wet and fanning his wings out in an attempt to dry them off, bent his head down in front of her, and let Astrid's headband slide off of his tongue and onto the ground in front of the girl. She seemed horrified at first, but after a moment, tentatively picked up the gooey leather between her index finger and thumb, trying to touch as little of the leather as she could whilst still holding it. She looked up at the dragon, bewildered and raised an eyebrow. "Gee… Thanks…"

He stared back at her for a moment, in that intense, creepy-close way he did that made you feel… _Vulnerable._ When he received no other response from her, he nodded, turned around, and walked back towards the forest. Once he reached a spot he had obviously deemed suitable, he fanned his wings again, shook his body to dry himself off as much as he could, purred softly, and sat down, leaving the rest of the group in a stunned silence.

Astrid was eventually the first one to speak up, though nobody else realized it. " _Toothless… How… What did you…?"_

He opened an eyelid lazily. " _I followed your scent. A bit harder to find underwater, but…"_ He shrugged, and closed it again.

" _My…"_ She blinked. " _I have a SCENT?! On my CLOTHES? Is… Is that on everything I own?!"_

He purred softly. " _Probably. Though I haven't checked. Hiccup certainly has one, though I've gotten so used to it that it's become kind of difficult to find. Anyway, tell her it's my way of apologizing for waking her up earlier though I'm still not sure why she's so mad."_

She stood there for a moment, just pondering the idea. It was possible he had mentioned something about her scent before, though she just hadn't been listening. She knew Hiccup would want her to be writing notes down right then if she told him about it, if not doing so himself, and so she decided to just mention it to him later on. It wasn't that big of a surprise, anyway - it was a known fact that many animals used scent to find and track prey and kin, and dragons were animals, too. They were just… _Smarter._ Humans had 'scents' for each other as well, she knew. Snotlout tended to smell of far too much sweat, though she was often told that she did, too, but with less added musk. Hiccup tended to hold the scent of hardened iron and copper, if not burnt leather and stale fish from his many hours spent flying with Toothless. Fishlegs always seemed to carry the musty odor of old parchment and mothballs, and the twins… Well, their smells tended to rotate every few hours.

Once, she remembered, they had even had a competition to see who could get the worst smell by the end of the day, with the winner getting to knock the other in the head with a frying pan until they passed out. Needless to say, Stoick and the rest of the Village were none too pleased with the outcome, as they somehow managed to both get themselves in Gothi's care after repeatedly smashing each other over the head with various kitchen tools, and carried around a horrible scent that nobody knew the source of for the next two weeks. Still, it went down as one of their most famous escapades, and Gobber even suggested it be written down in 'Legends of Berk: Volume Eleven', though Stoick eventually convinced him otherwise.

So perhaps the fact that she had a distinctive scent wasn't what had amazed her. But the possibility that he could still recognize it and find it underwater... It was crazy. Of course, if that _was_ the case…

" _So… Do I still have the same… Scent, as a dragon?"_

He opened both eyes for a moment, and sniffed the air, before laying his head back down and closing them. " _Yes… And no. You smell the same, but there's something new, something added, no doubt because of your recent… Changes. Still, you smell like you, and I doubt that'll change unless you start spending a lot more time around a lot more dragons."_

He snorted. " _It's odd, really. My kin are saying that Hiccup is starting to smell a lot like me, and I a lot like him. Never really thought I'd end up smelling like a human, especially not under the Queen's service, but…"_ He opened his eyes once more and glanced over at Hiccup. " _I don't regret it one bit."_

* * *

A few minutes later and Syl had dyed her hair over the lake, letting the excess mixture drip into the pure water, and creating a small pool of floating yellow-gray dye in the water like mildew in a swamp. She had insisted that none of them watch her, for whatever reason, including the dragons, and even then didn't seem convinced that Stormfly was actually asleep without a deal of reassurance from Hiccup.

Though Hiccup claimed it would look even better settled in and dried, the dye already appeared to be working its magic, as Syl's hair was almost completely blonde, with only a few streaks of yellow water running off of her to ruin the effect. Still, while she was nowhere near a perfect copy, Astrid could start to see it coming together, and could _almost_ believe that Hiccup's crazy plan might actually work. _Almost._ At least she looked more like a knockoff of Astrid than a crazy girl wearing her clothes, even if that's all she really was.

Syl admired her new hair for a moment in the lake, before throwing it over her shoulder extravagantly. "I always wondered what I would look like as a blonde. Do I look any dumber? Lower on the ol' food chain?"

Astrid bared her teeth at her and tried to growl as deeply as she possibly could. It seemed to have the chosen effect, as Syl quite nearly bit her tongue trying to keep quiet afterward.

 _When I get out of this, I'm not just going to kill this girl,_ Astrid thought menacingly, _I'm going to make her SUFFER first._

"So, uh…" Syl eventually risked a sentence a few minutes later. "What else is there? I have the clothes, and now the hair… You said something about scars? Bruises?"

Hiccup frowned. "Yeah… But we'll need to do those last, just to make sure they don't smudge. I have a bandage, too, which should help cover up a lot of your face, though it might smudge the bruises. Until then… Well, I guess there's not _too_ much else we can do, at least not physically, unless you have some way of fitting a decade of combat training into the next few hours."

"Fine. If you say so, partner. Though..." Syl glanced at her reflection in the lake and smirked. "I just don't see it, I suppose. Not yet. I guess I just don't… _Feel_ like your girlfriend. There's no _romance_ between us. Maybe if you and I kiss-"

Astrid was on top of her before she got the chance to finish.

" _Alright, Missy,"_ She projected to Toothless without realizing it, snarling down at the girl the whole time. " _You are officially WAY out of line. You can't fight, you can't work, you don't want to fly, you CANNOT talk to ME or Hiccup that way, and I swear to the Gods if you do again, I will rip your head right off of your shoulders! You are NOT taking over my life like this, and you are NOT going to replace me, and above all else, you cannot. Even. Be. ME!"_

While she knew the girl couldn't hear her, it was still satisfying to see her wince and beg for mercy as Astrid's talons started to move closer in on her neck, until the girl's skin was nearly pinched between her razor-sharp claws.

" _Astrid…"_

" _Shut it!"_ She whipped her head towards Toothless for half a second, before snapping it back to Hiccup, shooting him a look that said, _If you even THINK of trying to interfere again, I will stuff you down your own dragon's throat head-first faster than you can say 'Bud'._ While she still hadn't mastered her newfound expressions quite yet, the message seemed to be clear enough, as he clenched his fists and bit down on his lip, holding himself back for his own good, and eventually just walking over to Toothless to watch the scene unfold beside him.

Seeing that her only hope had just abandoned her, Syl's pleas suddenly became less sarcastic and more genuinely frantic. "I… Astrid! I… I swear to the Gods I'll never say anything about you and your boyfriend - I mean, uh, Hiccup - ever again! I swear! J-Just let me go!"

Astrid narrowed her eyes and continued to stare at her for a moment, not making a sound. Syl laughed nervously. "You… You wouldn't kill me, right? You… You _need_ me. You _need_ me to be you for this whole plan to work. Y-You need someone to… To… To cover for you…"

Astrid snorted as harshly as she could, and wrote out next to Syl's face,

 **NEED YOU?**

 **YOU THINK WE** **NEED** **YOU?**

 **I HAVE OTHER PLANS, TOO.**

 **OTHER WAYS OUT OF THIS THAT** **DON'T** **REQUIRE YOU.**

 **YOU THINK YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE WHO'S SPENT TIME**

 **WEIGHING HER OPTIONS?**

Syl's eyes widened as she absorbed what she said. Astrid noticed a large lump travel down the girl's throat as she swallowed, and her breathing started to increase in pace. She smirked.

 **YOU SEEM UNCOMFORTABLE.**

 **TELL ME**

 **DO YOU NOT ENJOY THIS LITTLE CONVERSATION**

 **WE'RE HAVING?**

 **YOU DON'T ENJOY BEING TRAPPED**

 **UNDER THE CLAWS AND MAW**

 **OF THE VERY OFFSPRING OF LIGHTNING AND DEATH ITSELF?**

 **HOW MANY LEGENDS HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT NIGHT FURIES?**

 **HOW THEY SUCK THE SOULS OUT OF THEIR VICTIMS,**

 **LIVE OFF THE LIGHT OF THE MOON**

 **AND HOW THEY SUCK BLOOD OUT OF THE LITTLE VIKINGS**

 **THEY STEAL AWAY AT NIGHT?**

 **HAVE YOU HEARD THE STORIES?**

"I-I…" Syl stuttered, drawing in a shaky breath.

Astrid closed her eyelids to near slits, and grinned, trying to create the most viciously evil and monstrous face she could imagine.

 **WOULD YOU LIKE TO FIND OUT**

 **HOW MANY OF THEM WERE TRUE?**

 **I'M CERTAINLY CURIOUS.**

She had to admit - it seemed rather impressive that the girl hadn't fainted yet. Hiccup certainly would have by then.

"N-No… You wouldn't… You aren't...:" She stuttered once again, trying to find the right words before her eyes widened, and she gained enough confidence to point her finger at her. "Y-you aren't yourself, Astrid! I didn't know you before you turned, but… I _know_ this isn't you! It's obvious you hate being a dragon, but you're… Going feral, like… like him!" She gestured towards Toothless with the same hand. "You're losing yourself… Letting the dragon part of your brain take over! And if you let me go, you'll be fighting it off, and winning! A-and, we can get to your village soon, and he can find a cure for you, and bring you back, and we can all go home like none of this ever happened! Just… Let me go!" She winced, trying to force out the next line as sincerely as she could. "... _Please,_ Astrid! _Please,_ just let me go!"

Suddenly, she had a moment of doubt. Maybe Syl was right - maybe she _was_ crossing a line. It had certainly felt weird writing those insults out, given that it was almost exactly what she _didn't_ want to do…

 _No,_ she thought after a moment's thought. _No. I'm not crossing a line, here, and I'm not going full-dragon. I don't make idle threats as a human, either. She might look scared, but I can see how the doubt in her eyes. She thinks I don't live up to my word? She is D-E-A-D wrong, and she needs to understand that. And I'd say it's time for her first lesson. Or perhaps her final exam. I guess it depends on who's teaching. And, of course, the results..._

 **FIGHT ME.**

Syl read the message once, blinked, and then read it again. Hiccup rushed over to read it, as well, and for a moment, looked like he wanted to say something, before backing up to Toothless again, thinking better of it. She realized it must've been strange for him and Toothless, watching Syl cry for help, then Astrid write something in the dirt, then the girl become even more terrified. _The power of words,_ she thought to herself with a chuckle. _Damnit. Never thought Fishlegs would be right about that. Guess I owe him one._

"Fight… W-What?" Syl asked weakly.

 **YOU HEARD ME.**

 **I WANT YOU TO FIGHT ME.**

She backed off of the girl, allowing her to crawl out fully from under her, and face her on at least somewhat equal terms. Still, Syl didn't dare stand up, obviously quite terrified Astrid would pull something else. _And she should be,_ she thought with a smirk.

"F- _fight_ you?! But… You're a dragon! How am I supposed to…" her voice faded off in sheer disbelief.

 **YOU CAN HAVE MY AXE.**

"Your… What?"

 **MY AXE**

 **IT'S A GOOD WEAPON**

 **THAT YOU NEED TO LEARN HOW TO USE ANYWAY**

 **IT'S SHARP**

 **STURDY**

 **CALL IT PRACTICE**

 **YOU'LL HAVE MY ARMOR, AS WELL.**

She took a deep breath, and glanced over at the sharply honed weapon, likely evaluating its usefulness to her. "So… A fight. Like… To the death?"

Astrid shook her head.

 **IF I CAN GET YOU LOCKED DOWN**

 **LIKE I DID A MOMENT AGO,**

 **I WIN.**

 **IF YOU MANAGE TO GET A SINGLE BLUNT HIT ON ME,**

 **YOU WIN.**

Syl raised an eyebrow, making Astrid sigh.

 **YOU WIN,**

 **AND I'LL NEVER TACKLE YOU**

 **OR TRY TO KILL YOU AGAIN.**

 **ASSUMING YOU DON'T TRY TO KILL ME, THAT IS.**

"And… If you win?" She asked hesitantly.

Astrid only grinned back as viciously as she could. Syl shivered but nodded in agreement.

She turned to the boys.

Hiccup's jaw dropped, as did Toothless's. "Astrid, please… Not now. Not with _her._ Not right before…" He shook his head. "You… You can't be serious…"

There was a moment of silence, then she nodded slowly. He laughed nervously in response, and brought his hand up to his forehead, pushing his hair back. "You… Are fighting Astrid… With an ax… Just a few hours before we leave… Amazing. I guess I should have seen this coming." With that, he sat down on the ground and buried his face in his hands. Three days of his desperate attempts at getting them to bond, and it ended with a brutal fight just a few hours before they launched his elaborate plan.

Toothless walked over to her a moment later.

The black dragon stared at her with concerned, mint-green eyes. " _Astrid,"_ he warned her, " _Don't do this. Please."_

She rolled her eyes. " _Don't worry. I won't hurt her… Much. Besides, Hiccup said he needed realistic wounds, right?"_

Toothless shook his head. " _It's not her I'm worried about; It's YOU,"_ Astrid reared back, offended, and Toothless narrowed his eyes.

" _You barely know how to move, Astrid! And ground combat is something that's way ahead of where you are now. We're built to fight from the sky, hidden from our enemies, not out in the open, or on the ground. And, ah, we may have thick hides, but,"_ -he held up his cloth tailfin demonstratively- " _We're not quite as protected as you might think. And we don't really grow back limbs, either, as I'm sure you've noticed. I've heard your old saying, and it's true - a downed dragon is a dead dragon. I've rarely heard of a grounded one of the blood that has came back to our nest alive. In fact… I believe I was the first, and that's only because Hiccup CHOSE not to kill me! That should show you how bad this is, Astrid! We're dragons! We're made rain fire down from the sky, not fight with claws strapped to wood in our hands! You're not ready for this, I'm telling you!"_

She narrowed her eyes at the dragon. " _Don't you DARE include me in your little dragon group! And I know what I'm doing, Toothless. I've been fighting people AND_ _dragons my entire life! Just look at her; she can barely lift an axe. She's worse than your own rider, for the Gods' sakes, and he can't go ANYWHERE without you being there to protect him! And at least he knows the difference from a dual-hilt longsword and a wooden club! I already have more control over that ax than she does, and I'm not even holding it. You're right about one thing, though - I'm a dragon, now! If I_ were _a human I might, MIGHT give her a chance, but as a Night Fury? I mean, come on, even I'll admit that this is unfair, and I HATE being like this. It took almost ten well-trained and fully grown Vikings to keep you constrained when you saved Hiccup in the Kill Ring, remember?"_

He winced, obviously not all too fond of the memory. " _The Kill Ring… So that's what you call it…"_ He shook his head and snorted angrily. " _I still don't think you should do this. You're ten times bigger than you were before. You can't just rely on dodging or running like you did before. You can be hit from almost any angle, now! It'll be much easier for her to hit you, and with that ax, after all of those hours you've spent honing in the woods... Well, it probably won't end up being a small bruise."_

Astrid raised her head up. " _Then I'll just have to hit her, first. Toothless, I NEED to do this, alright? I'll never be able to live with myself knowing that I never fought her, and it might finally take this girl down a notch, alright? She's supposed to be just like me a few HOURS from now! A good brawl is one of the best lessons I can give her before she has to go. It'll be a quick fight, too, one way or another. Besides, it might teach her a thing or two about fighting that I wasn't able to cover yesterday. A Gobber-style lesson, you might call it."_

Toothless sighed, and laid his head back to the ground, admitting defeat. " _One last thing,"_ he told her as she turned back around. " _You do seem confident in your abilities, inexperienced as you may be. If you do SOMEHOW_ _manage to win… Don't hurt her too bad, okay? I care about her as little as you do, but we need her."_

She smirked, and turned to face Syl.

Whilst Syl seemed to have built up some confidence, she could still see a hint of fear in the girl's eyes, and rightly so. Even Astrid would be a bit nervous if she had to face a two-thousand-pound rare dragon with an armored hide and claws that could cut through your neck like warm butter. She noticed that she had remembered the position to hold the ax that they had gone over the day before, but her stance was all wrong; her feet were too close together, meaning that she would have a difficult time putting power into her first swing, and couldn't move around easily. Nonetheless, a small part of her was glad that the girl had at least retained _something_ from their short training session, if relatively unimportant.

Hiccup seemed to be doing the same with Syl, warning her that Astrid was an experienced fighter and even more dangerous as a dragon. She couldn't help but grin at hearing him say it. But in the end, Syl still shook her head, telling him that it was something she had to do, and couldn't back down from. _I couldn't agree more_ , Astrid thought to herself.

Hiccup eventually stepped back next to Toothless, giving him a short, concerned glance, which was matched by the dragon's own. Sometimes, it was just plain creepy how they acted around each other. She could _talk_ to him, for the gods' sakes, and he still managed to convey his thoughts to Hiccup better than her.

She glanced at Stormfly one last time. It was probably for the better that she was still asleep; she would _never_ have let her do this otherwise, dragon or not. Still, Astrid had come to rely on Stormfly more than almost anyone else as a partner. To think that she wouldn't even be _awake_ during the ordeal… It was unnerving, at best.

"I still _really_ don't think you two should do this…" Hiccup said, making one last attempt at settling the hostility. But it was no use. The two were already set in their decision, and there was no going back. They each shook their heads.

He sighed defeatedly and frowned. "Right… Please don't kill each other…" He winced, before continuing, "Whenever you're ready, I guess…"

And so it began.

Astrid narrowed her eyes and started to pace back and forth, evaluating the girl. Syl gripped onto her ax, and watched her closely, but didn't move.

After a moment's decision, Astrid made her move.

She leaped at the girl.

For a moment, she was met with the delightful sight of Syl's terrified eyes staring into her own before she jumped out of the way at the last moment. Growling, Astrid dug her claws into the dirt as she landed, nearly plowing her head into the ground before catching herself. Syl took a step backward, and raised her ax up protectively. Astrid wheeled to face her with venom in her eyes, and swiped at her ax, trying to knock it out of her hands. Syl saw this, and fell back once again, leaving Astrid's claws to swipe idly through the air just a few inches away from the weapon.

Gaining a bit of confidence, Syl took a cautious swing at her, but it was just as futile as her own attempts. While it had enough power, the swing was clumsy and misdirected, and the head of the ax ended up slamming into the ground almost a foot away from her head. Syl heaved it back up quickly with a grunt, and sidestepped, adjusting her stance.

She stood there again for a moment, assessing the situation. As much as she hated to admit it, Toothless had been right - the jump she had just tried had sapped a lot of her energy, and forced her to take a moment to recover and plan her next move. This meant that her quick movements were limited to swipes with her paws, which only extended so far in front of her. Luckily, Syl was inexperienced as well, and thus hadn't yet learned how to use that to her advantage yet, but it was only a matter of time until she did… Unless she finished this quickly.

Glancing at the girl one last time, she concentrated as much power as she could into her rear legs, and leaped at Syl claws first. Once again, Syl sidestepped, but this time, Astrid was ready. One thing she had noticed earlier when she had Syl trapped under her claws was that whenever she tried to escape, she would favor trying to wriggle out to her left every single time; a beginner's mistake. Knowing your enemy was one of the most important factors in a fight, and thanks to their training session the day before, she already knew Syl's fighting techniques like the back of her hand, er, paw.

Syl yelped as she fell back to the ground, and let go of the ax, throwing her hands in front of her face. Astrid threw her front claws down around the girl, pinning her underneath her in _nearly_ the same position she had been in before. All she had to do was move her claw to lock down her neck-

Astrid blinked. She was gone! Without the weight of the ax holding her back, Syl had slid herself straight out from underneath her snout, and was already up and running towards the forest, leaving the weapon lodged in the hard-packed earth.

 _COWARD!_ She screamed in her mind and granted herself a wild roar before chasing after her.

Syl dashed under the trees, with Astrid swiping at her madly close behind, cursing when her claw was lodged into a tree. Roughly jerking it out after a moment of struggle, she sprinted in after the girl once again, trying to make up the lost time.

Whilst she easily could've caught up to her in seconds on the open ground, Astrid had significantly more trouble in the thick, shaded forest. The dark and coming fall had created a nightmarish labyrinth of hidden thorns and dead bushes that she had to navigate not two, but _four feet_ around, not to mention her tail, which seemed to smack against the side of every tree she passed. Luckily, her wings seemed to have remained folded since she woke up, something she hadn't realized nor been grateful for until then.

She squinted as she stared into the forest, trying desperately to keep her eyes on Syl, who by then had put a frighteningly sizable amount of space between the two of them. _How has she gotten through this forest so quickly?_ Astrid pondered, trying to keep pace with her. _This is at least the third time I've been in here in the past two days, and I don't even think she's walked more than two feet off of the beach since we got here. But it's like she's been running through it for her whole life._

She removed the thought from her mind and ran up ahead. She had more important business, anyway. She would just ask her when she had her pinned between her claws.

She kept running, trying to listen for the sound of Syl's footsteps over her heartbeat, before nearly running into a flat wall. She had reached the cliff face, the easternmost side of the ravine. Syl was nowhere to be found, likely either already running back to the clearing… or waiting silently nearby. She wasn't the only competitive one in this game, she realized. Syl still fully intended on winning… But so did Astrid.

The forest lapsed into a near dead silence, the only sound that of the crickets' soft chirping, and the area around her lit solely by a shaft of moonlight that barely lit up the back half of her body, as well as a small portion of the ground around her. Nonetheless, she backed into it defensively, wanting as much light and visibility as she could possibly get. This was no longer a chase; it was a hunt.

She scanned the area. She wasn't looking for the girl herself, she knew, she was looking for her clothes. _Astrid's clothes._ While her tunic was natural enough to blend in with her surroundings, her shoulder pads shined brightly due to hours of polishing each day, along with the spikes and skulls on her red skirt. On top of that, Syl had already died her hair blonde, and it was starting to shine through the previously black streaks, making her stand out in the dark. She would be easy enough to find, as long as she didn't figure it out...

Astrid tensed for a moment as she felt a light pressure on her back, but it was nothing. An acorn falling from a tree, perhaps a dead leaf slowly gliding down onto her back, or…

 _A hunt,_ she realized, eyes widening, _and I'm the prey._

"Hey," Syl cried from on her back, light as a feather. "I'm finally riding a Night Fury! Maybe your boyfriend will finally shut up about getting me to ride on your pal Toothy back there. Too bad _he_ isn't here… Not yet, that is..."

Astrid whipped her head back around. Out of the corner of her eye, she could just see the girl straddling her back, holding _something_ in her hand that she couldn't see. Was it her ax? It couldn't have been. They hadn't been there long enough for her to run back to the lake. No, it was still there. She was sure of it. So... What was she holding?

"You're pretty easy to sneak up on, you know that? You'd think that with your new dragon ears you would be able to hear me from a mile away, but… I guess you just weren't paying attention."

She was certainly taunting her now, and Astrid realized why; there was nothing she could do to get her off. Her forearms couldn't reach that far, nor her back legs, and if she tried to shake her off, she could end up hitting a tree or the cliff wall, and hurting herself. She could try rearing up on her hind legs and making her slide off - she had seen Toothless do it plenty of times - but if she did, there was always the possibility that she could lose her balance and fall backward, turning the girl into a little, splattered puddle of fake Astrid underneath her. As satisfying as the prospect of finally putting her in her place sounded, she knew Hiccup wouldn't be too pleased - they _did_ need her, and he had a tendency to pass out around any visible injuries, never mind death.

She growled, and shook as much as she could, but the girl still held on quite easily. What else was she supposed to do? The girl was in a perfect weak spot, she realized - a rider on a dragon's back had never been a problem before, but now, when they were fighting? It was a brilliant tactic, though she would never let her know that. Whilst she might as well have just sat there in defeat, trying to work out just how this girl had defied logic by not only managing to surprise her but _drop onto her back without her noticing._ But this girl wasn't done yet. She was savoring her victory, waiting it out. But she had a feeling that Syl would grow bored of mockery soon enough, which meant that if she was going to do something, she would need to do it _soon._

"Hah! Trying to shake me? Nice try, but your boyfriend, unfortunately, taught me where to hold on to your kind yesterday, and, well, _you're a dragon, now._ I know more about _you_ than _you do_ , in a way. Strange, isn't it? Speaking of him, it shouldn't be long before he finds us..."

Sure enough, she could faintly hear the sound of Hiccup's voice calling out to her from the clearing, slowly but surely getting louder and closer as he came looking for them in the woods. If he found her like this, it would be over. As a witness, there would be no question as to who won, and if Toothless found her… Well, she wasn't willing to let that happen. There was _no way_ she would let that stupid reptile think he was right, which he _wasn't_.

"Oh, and by the way," Syl told her, a sing-song arrogance in her tone of voice, "If you were trying to be all silent over here, you _really_ need to work on your tactic. Your tail was swishing up so many leaves, I'm surprised _Hiccup_ didn't hear you."

Her eyes lit up as she suddenly had an idea. It was ridiculous, and defied her argument, as well what she had stood for over the past few days, and overall would probably hurt _a lot._ But it was the only way she could think of to win, and she would only have one shot before Syl figured it out.

 _One hit,_ she thought to herself, _One blow to my hide was what we agreed upon. She hasn't hit me yet, and she doesn't have my ax, but she still thinks she's won - that's my advantage._

Slowly, she relaxed her rear muscles, once again feeling the alien tendons of the limb sprouting from her rear connect to the rest of her body. She wouldn't have time to worry about it, though. If she _was_ going to do this, it would have to be quick, and it would have to be _soon._

For a moment, she feared that the girl might notice what she was trying to do, but she was preoccupied, savoring every moment of Astrid's continued displeasure by mocking her to no end. "You know, I like to think of this as revenge for all that 'training' you made me do yesterday. And sure, _maybe_ I had a part in turning you into a dragon, but after all the times you've tried to kill _me_ since then? I think it's high time you be taken down a no-"

Before she could continue, Astrid whipped her tail up over her back, wincing as she both heard and felt new muscles crack and snap under the newfound position. No, there was _no way_ she would be able to ignore her tail after this. With a Gratifyingly terrified yelp, Syl tumbled off of her back and onto the ground. Grunting, she started to hoist herself up to her feet, but Astrid was ready. She spun around, and slammed her right paw down against her, slamming her into the ground so hard that it was a surprise she didn't black out. She groaned, and made an attempt at wriggling out again, but it was no use. Astrid's claws were already locked around her throat, locking her in place. She felt something else on her back, too - maybe the stupid girl had dropped something on her when she had fallen off - but she chose to ignore it. Now was _not_ the time for distractions

 _Take me down a notch, huh?_ Astrid thought, grinning down at the startled and petrified girl. _Good luck with that. You're supposed to BE me by now, and you still look and act like a complete wimp who's still somehow more afraid of a fair fight than a dragon named 'Toothless'._

They kept up the position; Syl glaring up in shock and utter anger (synonym) from beneath her, Astrid relishing in her sure victory. Still, she was cautious; Syl still seemed to hold a hint of confidence under all her anger, making Astrid wonder if she had some other foolish plan brewing in her mind. A moment passed, and she heard Hiccup's voice grow louder and louder, until he and Toothless emerged into the small clearing, and gasped. At first, only their outlines would be visible by the sliver of moonlight shining into the glen, she knew, but it would be obvious enough who won.

"Astrid! Syl! Are you guys alright? What happened? We just heard a lot of growling, and…" He frowned.

Syl sighed almost mockingly, and replied, "Ah, well, Astrid got me. Too bad - I almost thought I had her. Finally rode a Night Fury, though. Happy? I certainly am _not_ , and tired, too." Astrid sent a confused look down at the girl. Why was she taking this as calmly as she was? All of the other times they had fought, or she had been pinned down, she had been madder than a Viking who spilled his fifth beer at a feast. And yet, she seemed to be taking the whole thing quite well… Almost _too_ well...

"Oh, _Gods!_ Astrid!" Hiccup's voice quickly brought her out of her thoughts. "You… You're, uh…" Hiccup seemed to be staring at a particular spot on her back and looked about ready to pass out, before Toothless said, " _Astrid… You're bleeding."_

She snorted loudly and rolled her eyes. " _Bleeding? Toothless, I've been hurt before. I think I would know if I was-"_ But as she turned her head around, she was just able to see a tiny drop of a dark, shiny liquid roll off of her back and land on the ground, illuminated solely by the pale white moonlight shining through holes in the clouds.

She whipped her head back around to Syl, who smirked, and slowly revealed a knife hidden under her skirt.

Astrid bared her teeth at the girl, but retracted her foot and let her climb out from under her.

 **YOU** **CHEATED!**

"I _won!"_ Syl proclaimed, waving the knife tauntingly in her face, and grinning. "Besides, you never said that I _couldn't_ use a knife, just that I _could_ use your ax. Thanks for that, by the way. Even if it did only slow me down. Anyway, I won, and that's what matters. _You_ used your tail, remember?"

Astrid growled, and took a step forward, threatening to tackle or swipe at her again, but she stepped back towards to forest, out of reach of her claws.

 **WE TIED.**

Syl's jaw dropped. " _Tied?!_ There's no ' _tie'_ in fighting! It's win or lose! You, of all people, or should I say, _dragons,_ should know that. I was on your back for almost a minute straight, _and_ I managed to get a flesh wound on you! On your _scaled dragon hide._ How is that a tie?!"

 **YOU USED A WEAPON I DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT**

 **YOU RAN AWAY**

 **SNUCK UP ON ME**

 **SPENT A MINUTE GLOATING ABOUT YOUR VICTORY**

 **BEFORE LETTING ME TACKLE YOU,**

 **MADE A GASH FAR WORSE THAN A BLUNT WOUND**

 **AND OVERALL  
FOUGHT WITH NO HONOR WHATSOEVER.**

Syl narrowed her eyes. "Honor? _That's_ what this is about? I'm sorry, but I don't remember you mentioning _honor_ in the rules," She shook her head. "You probably think I'm some sort of terrible, evil coward for running away? You know what I call that? Evening the odds. We both know I was outmatched back there. Coming into the woods and pulling that trick on your back was the only way I could even _think_ of winning! You talk a lot about my lack of skills, but I'm starting to wonder if _you've_ ever seen a real fight in your life. You think anyone remembers their little codes of honor out on the battlefield? You think somebody is going to go 'Oh, I could decapitate my enemy right now, but it's dishonorable, so I'll let him go'? Well, you're _wrong_. Vikings forget them, and more importantly, _dragons never learn them in the first place._ So come back to me next time you win one of your 'honorable' battles. Dragons _don't care_ , and most humans don't, either. _._ If you're going to spend so much time down here, you better as hell learn that, along with all of your milk-drinking friends here on Berk." With that, she stormed back off into the woods, leaving the three of them in a stunned silence.

"What's her problem?" Hiccup asked after a moment, looking up at Toothless for an answer. He snorted indifferently, and Astrid frowned.

 **SHE'S PROBABLY JUST MAD AT HERSELF.**

Hiccup's eyes widened as he read her message. "Oh, gods! Astrid, you're hurt! I-I think there are some bandages in my bag - I'll be right back!" He turned, and rushed back through the woods limping slightly from trying to run on one leg.

" _Do you feel alright?"_ Toothless asked, sniffing at the small stream of blood trailing from her back. She flinched when his snout lightly brushed against the wound. " _I don't think so… It doesn't hurt very much, so it can't be that bad… Right?"_

It was a lie, and they both knew it, but she wasn't ready to accept she was hurt, and she _definitely_ wasn't going to admit that she had lost.

He raised an eyebrow. " _That doesn't seem like a very good way to judge injuries. You're hurt, Astrid. Not badly, it seems, just a scale wound, and not very deep, at that. Honestly, I'm not entirely sure how she managed to pierce your back at all - it's supposed to have better protection than anywhere else. I thought I heard her say she… Dropped down onto you?"_

She grimaced, and looked away. He shook his head, dumbfounded. " _How did she even manage to-"_

" _I wasn't paying attention, alright? I think she was in the trees above me, the wimp. Anyway, just let it go - I said we tied."_

He shrugged. " _Fine. What does that mean, anyway?"_  
" _It means…"_ she yawned and laid down on the ground dejectedly. " _Nothing, I guess. If she starts being nice to me, I might not tackle her or try to kill her quite so often, but I doubt either of those things are going to happen, regardless. It doesn't matter, anyway. You're leaving soon, and… And I might never see her again. Good riddance, I say."_

" _But… She's going to BE_ _you. Aren't you the least bit nervous that you just fought the girl who's going to take your place in your life? What if she ruins your reputation?"_

" _Then,"_ she sighed, " _I'll just have to make it right again when I change back. Besides, I don't think she's mad at me. She's mad at… Something else, though I'm not sure what yet. She'll just have to get over it."_

" _If you say so… Still, I'm surprised you're so comfortable with this whole thing."_

She rolled her eyes. " _I'm NOT comfortable, but the way I see it, Hiccup's given me such a short deadline to train her that worrying about it would be a waste of time. Though no guarantees after you leave - she's been making it hard enough already. I don't even want to think about what'll happen when I'm NOT there to hold her hand. I wish you two good luck with THAT_."

Toothless chuckled for a moment, before looking back at her wound, and frowning. " _You need to clean that."_

She turned her head back around, trying to see it, but it was still impossible for her to reach. " _It'll be fine. I've seen you heal from much worse, outside of your tail, that is. I probably don't even need Hiccup's bandages, really. I won't try anything too daring down here, believe me. It'll have plenty of time to heal. Otherwise, we can just throw a bucket of water over it later, or something."_

" _Water? What are you- listen, if you're not going to, I'll do it myself."_

She raised an eyebrow and turned her head to the front again. " _Do it yourself? What's that supposed to me-AHH!"_

Her entire body suddenly tensed up as she felt a long, sticky and wet stroke travel up the side of her body towards the scar, stopping just before it reached it. She leaped sideways and glared at the dragon, whose tongue was hanging out of his mouth in a way she might've thought was funny if she weren't so mad at him.

" _Toothless! What the hell?!"_

He cocked his head to the side innocently. " _What? It could be infected otherwise, and you weren't willing to do it, so…"_

She stared back at him, astonished.

" _Infected?! How do you even know what that means?!"_

He purred softly. " _We have a… A different word for it in our tongue, but I heard Hiccup talking about it once with his foot, and I was able to figure it out from there. Of course, I never thought I would have to use it, but… Here we are."_

" _That… That still doesn't justify your licking my wound! Haven't you ever heard of privacy, or medicine, for that matter?! I can handle myself just fine!"_

" _Just trying to help…"_ Toothless grumbled. She growled back at him but laid down roughly a moment later. Perhaps he was - she could see the innocence in his eyes was genuine. Yet with all of the time he'd spent around humans, he still didn't understand all of their customs...

" _Fine,"_ She squeezed her eyes shut. " _If you really insist, you can… Clean it. But don't touch the wound itself, and don't swallow any of my blood, either! That's just plain weird, and it crosses a line."_

" _Hah. You think I'm enjoying this?"_ He rumbled.

He bent down, and she winced as she felt his tongue collide smoothly with her tough hide, but just before he brought it up along her back, he froze.

" _... Toothless?"_ She started, " _If you're not going to do this, could you at least take your, erm, tongue, off of my-"_

"Um… Astrid?" It was her turn to freeze.

 _Not again…_ She thought, daringly opening one of her eyes, and turning towards the source of the voice.

Indeed, there Hiccup stood, his satchel dangling from one arm, a bandage from the other. He dropped them both.

His cheeks grew as red as Toothless's tailfin.

"I-I, um…" He clenched his fists and looked away. More than anything in the world at that moment, Astrid really, _really_ wished Toothless would take his tongue off of her back - being on the opposite side of her from Hiccup, she didn't know _what_ it looked like to him - but he abstained, still fixed in place behind her, eyes bulging out of his head and staring straight at his rider.

She hadn't forgotten about Hiccup - she just hadn't expected him to come out from behind them. Though it was dark, she knew that their camp on the beach was to the west, the way she was facing, and thus expected him to come back the same way. Toothless had apparently anticipated the same.

Hiccup blinked, as though coming out of a trance. "I… Um… Syl isn't at the camp… I figured she must've been sulking in the woods somewhere, so I went looking for her again… Um, what exactly were you…?"

 **TOOTHLESS INSISTED UPON CLEANING IT**

 **I TRIED TO STOP HIM**

 **I SWEAR.**

He stared back at her for a moment, astonished, forcing her to add,

 **PLEASE DON'T TELL SYL.**

She meant it, too. If the occurrence from the night before hadn't convinced her that she was going feral, this certainly would. Toothless suddenly licking her wound might've been believable, at least in her mad perception of dragon ferocity, but Astrid actually _accepting it?_

She frowned. _What was I thinking? I'm going more and more savage every day I'm here. The sooner I get away from Toothless and the others, the better._ Still, it was happening a lot faster than she anticipated - not that she had anticipated any of this _at all -_ and a small part of her couldn't help but to imagine Hiccup and Toothless coming back one day to find her setting fire to trees, eating fish raw out of the lake and making a hot burnt bed for herself on the ground.. By the gods, if it ever came to that, she would _force_ Hiccup to bring her back to the village.

"What? N-no, of course, I won't. I… Um…" He bit his lip, before looking down at his bag. "Oh! Your, uh, wound! Let me just, ah…" He walked over to the gash slowly, and tenderly graced the gauze over it. Still, she couldn't help but grimace as the cool linen pressed against her damp scales, creating a tingly sensation just beneath the outer layer, for some reason. Upon feeling it, she couldn't help but remember the scar she had gotten when… When…

Her eyes widened, and she stood up, finally forcing Toothless to pull his tongue back into his mouth - something she had nearly forgotten about in her shock.

 **HICCUP, THERE'S SOMETHING I WANTED TO TELL YOU.**

 **IT'S ABOUT MY TRANSFORMATION.**

His eyes brightened for a moment. "Oh, yeah? What? Anything could help."

 **REMEMBER HOW I TOLD YOU**

 **THE SCALES WASHED OVER MY BODY AT FIRST?**

He nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, you said they were like waves, erupting out of your skin. Gross, I guess, but… Kind of interesting. That's just me, though."

She rolled her eyes.

 **WELL, I THINK WHEN IT STARTED**

 **IT CAME OUT OF MY SCAR FIRST.**

 **THE ONE I GOT WHEN TOOTHLESS SCRATCHED ME THAT DAY.**

 **IT WAS ALL PUFFED UP AND GRAY**

 **WHEN THE BANDAGE FELL OFF.**

 **DO YOU THINK THAT HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH IT?**

He frowned, putting on the expression he had whenever he was deep in thought. "Yeah… Yeah, I think it might! Maybe some sort of reaction to it, or an infection from the wound…" He grinned again. "Thanks, Astrid. You don't know how helpful that is. At least now I know where to start, though it could take a little while. A lot of the books in the Great Hall have been locked up in some of the old chambers, so I'll have to find a way in… But I'll work as fast as I can - I promise!"

She raised an eyebrow.

 **AND GOTHI'S WORKING ON A SOLUTION TOO, RIGHT?**

His eyes seemed to become panicky for a moment, but he responded quickly. "Oh, yeah. Workin' hard. It's just, uh, good to have a Plan B, in case it doesn't work, right?"

She sighed but nodded.

He finished applying the bandage, and with an excessive amount of convincing, Astrid assured him that she would be able to walk just fine. On their trek back to the camp, Hiccup asked an abundance of questions regarding her scar, along with a few more about her being a dragon in general, to which she would have to stop and write in the dirt for each. Hiccup didn't seem to mind too much, though Astrid decided that it was a waste of their time and her energy by the seventeenth question, and just rolled her eyes every time he asked one after that, continuing to move forward and eventually forcing him to shut up.

To Hiccup's dismay, Syl still hadn't come back to the campsite by the time they got there, which was obviously starting to get on his nerves, especially since the moon had nearly completed its descent below the horizon, signaling dawn to be less than an hour or two away. All three of them split up and went searching for her - Stormfly was _still_ asleep, despite a few more attempts at waking her up - but she somehow managed to go entirely undetected in the forest. Even with Toothless's advanced senses, and Astrid's own expertise in staying hidden, she apparently masked her scent, as well as travel and conceal herself without making a sound.

Eventually, they gave up, choosing to just wait her out by their camp - she had to come out sometime, right?

But even then, it was almost an hour before she finally came back, under the pretense that she 'needed time to think', whatever the hell _that_ meant. This girl was about to take on quite possibly the most difficult and dangerous task of her entire life, and yet she chose to spend the final hours before she left building up her ego and hiding in the woods out of _spite._ It took all of Astrid's effort and concentration not to just strangle her right there.

"Well, now that that's over with," Hiccup told her with a sigh, "We have less than an hour before we have to leave if we're doing this by dawn. We have just enough time to go over everything before we leave. Luckily, it seems like your hair is starting to dry out, so at least that worked…" He was right, she realized - Whilst it still wasn't near perfect, if you glanced at the girl out of the corner of your eye, you might almost think it was her. _Almost._

"The bruises should help cover up most of the differences, as well - I'll paint some on myself, too - and, well there is one more thing…" He glanced down at his satchel, and Astrid suddenly remembered the strange vial of liquid he had been carrying around since they had left Gothi's like it was a drink from the feast in Asgard itself. But before she could ask him about it, he continued "Anyway, we should probably spend some more time going over Astrid's, I mean, _your_ life, friends, family, etcetera. That is the most important part, after all. Maybe a review would help?"

She rolled her eyes and shrugged. "Whatever."

He nodded. "Alright. Your name?

"Astrid."

"Full name, please."

"Astrid Hofferson."

"Your dragon's name?"

"Ugh. Stormfly, right? Deadly Nadder. She calls her 'girl' for some reason."

"That's right. His name?" He pointed to his Night Fury, who looked up curiously.

She raised an eyebrow. "The very offspring of lightning and death itself?"

He sighed, and shook his head, "No, it's-"

"Agh!" She groaned, bringing the palm of her hand to her forehead. "It was a joke! Toothless, I know. As if I'm ever going to forget a name like that."

He smirked. "Alright. Your parent's-"

"Wait!" She said, holding up a hand. "What about my voice? Do I sound anything like her?"

Hiccup's eyes widened. "You're right! I… I almost forgot about that. Her voice is a bit deeper than yours, but I didn't think it would be that much of a problem. I figured we'd have more time to practice, too, but… Well, you were there when we were looking at the map, right? Do you remember what she sounds like?"

"Um," She cleared her throat. "Like this?"

She grimaced as the words left her mouth, and so did Hiccup - she sounded more like a dying yak than a Viking, never mind _Astrid._

"Well…" Hiccup said, bringing his hand behind his head sheepishly. "Maybe we can say you caught a cold in the storm… And can't speak easily... or just lost your voice altogether…"

"You sure about that?" She smirked, raising an eyebrow. "I thought you said that your girlfriend couldn't _shut up_ -"

"What?! No!" He replied quickly, waving his arms frantically. Astrid narrowed her eyes at him, and he whipped around to face her. "I never said that! Let's just, uh, finish the review."

She rolled her eyes, but let him continue.

Once again, they went through all of her friends and enemies, and what they looked like, as well as some of the most important people in Berk, with Astrid occasionally probing her more extensively with those she knew better. She had heard about their war with Alvin long before she met them, as well as their ongoing tensions with Dagur - most people had. When they were both satisfied that she knew as much as she would need to 'survive' an average day in the village, they went over her mannerisms, hobbies, and daily schedule, before she suddenly stopped them halfway through.

"This is _ridiculous._ You can't possibly expect me to remember all of this. Couldn't you just tell them I lost my memory and reintroduce me to everyone like I don't know any of them? It would make everything so much easier."

He shook his head. "People would be too weirded out if you did, I think. Especially if you started acting all different from how she does. Besides, what should she do when she does come back? Just act like she has no memory of any of them? Of her parents, or friends, or Stormfly?"

Syl shrugged. "I don't see why not."

Astrid growled at her deep within her throat, but the girl didn't seem to notice.

Hiccup sighed, and continued, luckily receiving no further complaints during the rest of the review, though Astrid had a distinct feeling that Syl purposefully stopped listening to him after that.

"Okay," Hiccup told her once they had finished, rubbing his eyelids sleepily. "There's _so_ much more we should go over, but… I guess that'll have to be it for now. Let's just hope that this disguise works just as well."

With that, he walked back over to his pack and pulled out several small jars of red, yellow, gray and blue powder, each of which he mixed with the remaining water in the flask.

"Sit down," Hiccup told Syl, pointing at a nearby rock large enough to rest on.

She raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"You still don't quite look like Astrid, and we don't have the time to make it more accurate, so we're just going to have to make you completely unrecognizable altogether. I'm not really an expert at this, but… Well, I'll do my best."

"Wait!" She exclaimed as he dipped his fingers into one of the mixtures. "I'll do it myself."

He frowned. "Are you sure? It'll be much easier this way, and well, I know what Astrid looks like a bit better than you do. I can just-"

"No, really. I used to mess around a lot with green and brown dyes on my face and arms to help disguise myself in the woods - I know this stuff. Besides, there is _no_ way you are putting your hands in my face - Not gonna happen. Though a little light might help - I can't really see my reflection that well in the lake right now, if you hadn't noticed."

Hiccup groaned but nodded after a moment.

"Toothless," he asked the dragon, who was resting next to Stormfly. With a low purr, he opened his eyes sleepily and looked up at him. "Could you give Syl a bit of light?"

Her eyes widened. "N-No! Just a torch, or a pebble and some iron, or anything else would be fine! I-I don't need… _Him."_ But it was too late - Toothless was already padding towards Syl with his mouth open, filtering a bit of gas into his mouth as he did. He turned his head as soon as he reached her, setting fire to a small group twig on the ground, and making Syl jump almost a foot in the air. He glanced up at her for a moment, before walking back to Stormfly, and lying back down.

The girl's eyes flicked back and forth between the burning sticks and Toothless, before turning to look at Hiccup. "Is he… Going to do this sort of stuff all the time?"

He smirked. "You'd better get used to it now."

She shivered and turned back to the lake.

She slowly applied the paint, the others all sitting behind her in an awkward silence. Astrid tried to strike up a conversation with Toothless at one point, but he seemed tired, and once again told her that he needed time alone, for whatever reason. When she had finished, and Hiccup deemed her so beat-up looking that she could probably pass off as anyone, he tried to explain how Astrid normally braided her hair, with a fair amount of difficulty. When his attempts proved absolutely futile, Astrid shoved him aside and told her it was a basic fishtail braid with a small ball on the bottom, which the girl had luckily made with other little girls her age, when she was much younger. She started to teach Hiccup the basics of how to braid it before he interrupted her and told her he already knew how muttering something about one of the contraptions he had been working on for the past few weeks.

Whilst the end result still wasn't entirely accurate, Hiccup said they could just tell everybody it had come partially undone when she was in the storm, unlikely as it may have seemed.

The whole process took almost half an hour, leaving them with little time before they would have to leave. Luckily, even Astrid was willing to admit that Syl looked a bit like her, maybe at least enough to pass off as her for most of the day. Though if someone were to stare at her for more than a few seconds, it would be easy enough to raise a few questions. She just had to hope that Syl would have the answers…

"Well," Hiccup said once they had finished. "I guess it's time. She said this was the 'final step', at least before I explain what the plan is…" He started to pull the vial out of his bag.

"Wh-What's that supposed to mean?" Syl asked nervously, backing away from him. "What's that stuff going to do to me?"

He shrugged, and opened his mouth, before closing it again, thinking better of whatever he was about to tell her. "Honestly… I'm not sure. But we can trust Gothi. She wants to help us with this, for some reason, and she's wiser than anyone else on Berk. And who knows? It might not be anything at all. She's not a witch, you know, and magic isn't _that_ common."

"Tell that to your _dragon girlfriend…_ " she told him, still backing up.

He sighed. "Please, Syl. She only said a drop, anyway - not that much. And I'm pretty sure she said the effect wears off eventually, too. Something about mead, I think... Either way, I'm sure you'll be fine. I mean, you've trusted us this far!"

She shook her head. "I'm not about to drink some magic potion that only your witch on the mountain knows the properties of. No way."

Astrid stepped up to her, growling, and she backed up another foot.

Toothless looked up at them sleepily. " _I thought you said you would be nice to her."_

" _I said I would be NICE if she cooperated, which she's clearly not doing."_

" _I'm almost positive those weren't the words you used-"_

" _Shut up!"_ She snapped at him, before turning back to her, and growling again. Syl's eyes flitted back and forth between her and the liquid, evaluating the potential threat of each, before finally settling on the vial.

"Fine, I'll take it. Not like I have much else to do with my life if it turns me into a freak…"  
Tenderly, she picked up the vial, and slid the cork off, placing it gently on the ground as though the contents within were explosive. Then, ever so slowly, she tipped it back and let a single drop dribble into her mouth before quickly moving it away from her lips.

She reeled.

"Ah, Gods, it tastes like rotten fish!" She scraped her fingers across her tongue, trying to get the taste out, before spitting into the lake. After a moment of extravagant gagging, Syl noticed that they were all staring at her expectantly.

"What…" She examined herself for a moment. "Has something happened to me?"

Hiccup shrugged. "Maybe you didn't drink enough?"

She shivered in horror and shook her head. "I don't feel any diff-"

Her hands flew up to her mouth, clamping down over it, and her eyes nearly bulged out of her head.

Everyone's jaw dropped, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Stormfly shoot up, but she was too shocked to notice.

She sounded _exactly_ like Astrid.

"I… Wha… My v-v," Syl stuttered.

Hiccup just shook his head. "Your voice… Sounds like… Astrid? How... How did she…"

Astrid took a step back, still in shock, eyes locked onto Syl, and the words that had just come out of her mouth.

" _Toothless… This is getting weird…"_

" _Yeah… This isn't supposed to happen, right?"_

She shook her head, and he turned to her.

" _Are you sure your elder's not a… Witch?"_ He asked her.

She was about to deny it, as she had been taught - but she caught herself at the last moment. Surely, this had to be an act of magic - it was far too clear, far too _accurate_ to be anything else. Yet, did that make her a witch? She certainly didn't seem like one. At least, not like the ones she had read about. But still, how had she _captured_ her voice and made a potion to copy it? She didn't know much about magic, hell, she didn't know _anything_ about magic, but she was pretty sure that something like this would require a strand of hair, or at least a _warning_ that she had been experimenting with things like this. Did the Village know about it? What about Stoick? If he knew she had magic like this...

Syl opened her mouth, and stuttered for a moment, experimenting with different sounds, and tones of voice, pushing her hand against her throat to make it deeper, or lighter. Then she laughed.

"Hey, look at me, I'm Astrid! I ride dragons and think I'm the only smart person in the world!"

Normally, she wouldn't have taken her or anyone else that mocked her seriously, but the fact that she was somehow speaking with _her voice_ irritated her to no end. She growled at her, but the girl only laughed. _Her_ laugh.

"Oh, no you don't. _I'm_ Astrid, now. _You're_ just a dragon in the woods."

She growled at her for a second, before she realized that in a way, she was right. Where the flaws in her disguise left some holes, her voice filled them in; any immediate doubts someone might have about who she was would be forgotten when they heard her voice. It had never been something she had thought about, of course - her voice was unimportant, only used to communicate. It wasn't something she had worried about, and it wasn't anything anybody else had ever seemed to worry about, either. But now, hearing it come from another person's mouth, and a _spy's_ of all people… It was more than unsettling - it was _personal._ Not to mention just _how_ she had done it, of course - she would make that woman answer, one way or another.

As to whether she _was_ just a dragon in the woods… Well, in a few hours, she would be. By all rights, she might've been - in fact, she was a nothing in the woods. Hiccup wouldn't, no, _couldn't_ tell anybody what had happened to her. In less than an hour, she officially

"Right… That's, ah, um…" Hiccup stuttered for a moment, before giving up on talking. Stormfly walked over and sniffed at Syl for a moment, much to her displeasure, before going back to lie down on the sand. This lead Astrid to realize something she hadn't considered before.

" _Toothless… Will the other dragons know who she really is? Because of her scent, I mean."_

He frowned. " _She's wearing most of your clothes, so some of them might be fooled. Your scent is mainly a collection of the things you keep nearest to you, though hidden underneath is another layer - the one that truly identifies both dragons and humans. Each one is different, unique to one's own self, but over time, if becomes buried underneath all of the others - it takes a skilled nose to find, along with a fair bit of effort. Though of course, there are still plenty of my kin that don't yet trust humans, so I can't guarantee that none will be checking for it. But if any of them ask, or try to interfere… I'll just have to tell them the truth. They may be bound to their riders, but that's all the more reason for them to understand the situation you're in - Stormfly's quite worried about you, you know."_

" _She… She is?"_ She looked at the resting Nadder. " _I… Thought she liked me better as a dragon. I figured she would…"_

He shook his head. " _No, she's very protective of you, Astrid. More than you know. She cares about you very deeply, and wants you to go back to normal, so you can ride together again, and she knows that you're all well and healthy. It may be true that we are bound to our riders just as we are mates - for life. But it's a choice, and one we were all very glad to have after the queen died, and..."_ He frowned.

She stared at him deeply for a moment, contemplating what he had told her, before glancing back at Syl, who was still playing around with her 'new' voice, and obviously making Hiccup very uncomfortable.

" _It's not your fault,"_ She told him. " _What happened to Hiccup and Berk, or… Well, any of this. It's that… Queen. She controlled you, manipulated you and forced you into doing what you did. I was there when you took us to your nest, remember? I saw what was happening to you… To all the dragons. You SAVED them. Maybe you got shot down one night, but you were the one that changed all of this. You were given a choice BEFORE you killed the Queen, as well - don't even think that Hiccup hasn't told me about how you met a billion times. You chose to spare him because he spared you. That's the honorable thing to do, Toothless. That's the RIGHT_ _thing to do."_

He chuckled. " _Yeah? Well, maybe if I hadn't been shot down, you wouldn't be stuck in this whole situation. I know why SHE was sent here,"_ -He nodded towards Syl resentfully- " _it's because she hates… Us, right? I don't blame her, really. We've done some terrible things, to your people, and to each other… But we're trying to change, Astrid. We really are."_

" _I know, Toothless… I know."_ She glanced up at the moon, which was by then almost completely invisible, the majority of it having disappeared beyond the walls of the ravine.

" _You should go soon."_ He looked up at the sky, following her line of sight, before looking back at her.

" _Good luck down here, Astrid. We'll be back soon, I promise."_  
She smirked. " _What's with all the emotion? I thought you were supposed to hate me."_

He snorted and grinned. " _Oh, I do. I absolutely loathe every ounce of you. You're stubborn, competitive, and mean. You tried to kill me when I first met you, and nearly did until Hiccup stopped you. You take Hiccup away from me so you can either punch him, try to kill him, kiss him, or all three at once, but…"_

She raised an eyebrow. " _But?"_

" _But… I know you won't let anything happen to him. I've seen the way you look at him - don't try to hide it. We have love, too, you know, and I know what it looks like. You might still have a way to go, but…"_ He shrugged. " _I suppose I can tolerate you, at least for now."_

With that, he walked back over to Hiccup, and purred softly, luckily pulling him out of what looked to be a very awkward situation. Rolling her eyes, she walked over to join them.

"Well, then…" Hiccup said, seeming to have found his voice, "I… I guess this is it."  
" _Great,_ " Syl replied, mimicking the sarcastic tone she had obviously heard Astrid use at some point. "Are you finally going to explain this elaborate plan you have in mind?"

Hiccup smirked. "Well, you've probably already figured out most of it, but… Here it is." And with that, they finally told her. Whilst they hadn't had a lot of time to discuss it until then, they had both been planning it since they first went to Gothi's hut, and had worked up what they believed to be at least a solid story for why they had been missing, as well as how she had gotten so beaten up, and why they were gone so long. Whilst it was relatively basic, it was somewhat unlikely, and could easily fall apart if they suddenly couldn't come up with the details, but she knew in her heart that it would work - it had to.

When he was done, and Astrid had assured that all of the smaller details had been covered, as well, Syl raised her chin and replied. "Alright… Seems simple enough. I'm assuming you'll be doing most of the talking?"

He nodded. "We can just say you're tired. It certainly looks that way… Your clothes are pretty dirty, as it is, and your, uh, sweat is still there from yesterday, by the looks of it. Not that I've been looking! Anyway... It should be convincing enough… Things like this have happened to us a few times in the past, after all."

She frowned. "Okay… What's the catch?

He glanced back at Astrid, raising an eyebrow before turning back to Syl. "Catch?"

"Yeah, the catch. Come on, there's gotta be something to it. I have to kiss you, or ride on your dragon 'till we get there, tell the Chief I'd promised to marry you after you saved my-"

"What?!" Hiccup blurted, cheeks reddening. "No, there's nothing like that! Nothing at all! No kissing, or… Uh... Just follow my lead. You have the voice for it, at least…"

She raised an eyebrow, still suspicious. "Hmph. Whatever you say. I could get used to this new voice for a little while, though, sorcery as it may be."

Then, she walked over to Stormfly and saddled her, obviously having garnered a lot more confidence around dragons since a few days before. Still, Astrid noticed her sneer at the Nadder before she climbed on, making her wish Stormfly would just bite her head off, and end the whole thing for a moment. She would probably do it, if she asked her, though she decided otherwise, at least for the time being.

She turned back to the two of them just before they lifted off.

"I might do a few laps here, just to, you know, get used to it. I'll just follow you two as soon as you take off. And, ah, Astrid?" She grinned down at her. "See ya later, I guess. I'm sure loverboy here will find a cure for you… Someday. I'll try not to ruin your life if it makes you feel any better, though I make no promises."

With that, she leaned her head down to the dragon's ear, and whispered for her to do a few loops around the cove, obviously not aware that Toothless and she could hear every word she said. And so the two lifted off above the gorge and trees surrounding it, beginning their first loop around.

Hiccup watched them for a moment, before turning back to her. "Listen, Astrid…" He sighed. "We… We still don't have to do this, you know. She wouldn't like it, but… I don't want anything to happen to you down here. We could just go back, and tell the village what happened. Maybe negotiate a return for Syl… And then I could find a cure, and maybe get Dad's help. It's not too late."

She exhaled slowly.

 **IT'S NOT ME YOU SHOULD BE WORRYING ABOUT.**

He smiled sadly. "Syl? I don't think she'll be that much of a problem. She knows what she has to do here, and she seems to be taking it seriously enough. We've done it before, and I know that was with you, but… Well, it kinda worked, didn't it? This time, it'll be even smoother."

She sighed.

 **IT'S NOT THAT.**

 **THE ONLY REASON SHE WAS SENT HERE**

 **WAS BECAUSE SHE WAS A SPY**

 **SENT TO FIND OUT OUR TACTICS, AND OUR BATTLE PLANS,**

 **HOW LARGE OF A FORCE WE HAVE.**

 **IT SEEMS LIKE SHE DIDN'T DO A VERY GOOD JOB,**

 **WHICH IS WHY SHE'S STILL HERE.**

 **WHAT IF SHE LIED?**

 **WHAT IF SHE'S STILL WORKING FOR THEM?**

 **WHAT IF SHE DID TURN ME INTO A DRAGON ON PURPOSE,**

 **AND THIS WHOLE THING WAS A SETUP TO GET INTEL ON US?**

 **THEY'RE HER FRIENDS,**

 **HER FAMILY**

 **FOR ODIN'S SAKE, HER MOTHER IS THEIR CHIEF.**

He shook his head. "No, I don't think she's working for them, still. Stormfly and I found her in the woods _by chance._ She probably would've died, otherwise. That landslide was bad and dangerous - there was no way she could've planned that. I think she's really on her own here."

 **THAT MAY BE,**

 **BUT EVEN SO**

 **WHAT'S HER ONE BARGAINING POINT TO GET BACK?**

 **INFORMATION.**

 **AND WHEN SHE'S ME, SHE'LL HAVE ACCESS TO,**

 **AND HEAR EVERYTHING WE HAVE PLANNED,**

 **AND WE'RE THE ONLY ONES WHO WILL KNOW.**

 **THE VILLAGE IS OBVIOUSLY TENSE RIGHT NOW,**

 **BUT THEY'LL BE LOOKING FOR SPIES**

 **MORE THAN TRUSTED VIKINGS.**

 **HER DISGUISE IS ALMOST PERFECT, HICCUP**

 **WHETHER THAT'S A GOOD THING OR BAD,**

She left the sentence open, making him groan. "Then… I guess I'll just have to keep an eye on her. That is, assuming she agrees to do it for more than a day. And when we do finally cure you… Well, maybe we can put her in a cell before she can get anything back to her tribe.

She raised an eyebrow.

 **THAT SEEMS PRETTY CRUEL, HICCUP**

 **COULD YOU REALLY DO THAT?**

"I… I don't…" He frowned and buried his face in his hands. She purred softly - something she knew Toothless did when he was feeling sad - and nudged him with her snout.

 **I'M NEVER GOING TO TRUST HER, HICCUP**

 **YOU KNOW THAT.**

 **BUT YOU'RE GOING TO NEED TO MAKE SOME HARD DECISIONS**

 **WHEN YOU BECOME CHIEF.**

 **IT'S THE TRUTH.**

"I know," He whispered, just loudly enough for her to hear, "But… Not yet. So… Is that a yes, or a no? Do you still want to go through with this?"

This was the moment, she knew. Hiccup was giving her the option - it wouldn't be running back on her own, or abandoning them. It would be her choice.

The consequences ran through her mind at speeds quicker than a Night Fury's blast. If she went back, she could beg them for help, if not forgiveness first. If a divine power had deemed this curse upon her for eternity, then so be it, but gods be damned if they hadn't, she would sure as hell do everything in her power to get back to who she was. And, of course, she wouldn't have to live with the knowledge that Berk might never find out what happened to her… Or that anything ever happened to her at all.

And yet… Hiccup's plans had almost never failed her in the past. And with people like Mildew always looking for easy ways to blame dragons for things, she couldn't imagine the time he would have with this. He could round the whole village up against them, maybe even force Hiccup and Toothless to leave… It was a risk she'd rather not take. Plus, if she stayed there, she might have more time to figure out what they were supposed to do with Syl. Of course, she might also go crazy in the process…

She turned to Hiccup, finalizing her decision. There would be no going back after this, she knew - no second choice. But she trusted him.

 **GO.**

 **WATCH HER.**

 **AND PLEASE,**

 **BRING ME BACK**

 **I WANT TO PUNCH YOU IN THE FACE AGAIN.**

 _And tell you how much I love you for doing all this with my own voice…_ She thought to herself but chose to leave out.

He nodded and grinned at her. "I will turn you back, Astrid. I just need to figure out how, first. I… I'll see you soon. Tonight, if I get the chance. Just… Keep calm down here, okay? Try not to make too much noise, either. They'll probably start sending out more search parties soon, so just lay low, at least for the next few hours. Nobody found Toothless here for a few months, though, so you should be alright. But just in case… Stay safe, okay? I promise you I'll be back as soon as I can, and this _will work._ "

He turned back to look at Toothless for a moment and frowned. "Hey, bud… Could you give us a moment alone? I wanted to say, uh, goodbye."

He raised an eyebrow at him but eventually walked away enough that he wouldn't be able to hear their conversation… Probably.

"Alright, Astrid," He told her under his breath, "It's time that I told you why we're _really_ leaving before dawn."

She narrowed her eyes at him. It _had_ been something on her mind that morning. After all, he hadn't done more than leave, and then come back a few hours later, suddenly demanding that they needed to leave a day and a half earlier than they had planned. She knew he had been worried about his father, as well as the search parties they all knew were out looking for them, but at _dawn the next day?!_ It was insane, even for his standards. She had known from the start that there had been something else, but she had never bothered to ask.

"Have you noticed how Toothless has been… Distant, lately?" He asked.

Her mouth dropped open. Really? Was he asking this _now_? She had just been turned into a dragon, a _Night Fury,_ of all kinds! Of course he would be distant - apparently, he had never even seen another one of his own race, and whilst she still hated what she had become, she could understand his curiosity at such a strange occurrence and his time to think it over.

Besides, who was _he_ to talk? For the first time in his life, _she_ had given him the opportunity to talk to his best friend, and now he had the nerve to go on about how _untalkative_ he had been of late? He would never be pleased, she decided.

He seemed to sense her annoyance, as he quickly replied, "No, no! I figured it was pretty normal at first, too. Well, normal compared to the other things that have been happening of late… But then it started getting… _Worse."_

He glanced at his dragon for a moment, who was preening himself, before scooting up closer to Astrid's ear. "It was just small things, at first. I tried talking to him, and he would just… _Blank out_ , like he didn't even hear me. Don't get me wrong - this dragon just _loves_ to ignore me, but these past few times it's just been... _Different._

"But I didn't think anything was wrong, really. With all of this, he's had a lot to think about lately, I know. He's a smart dragon, and he likes to try to figure things out on his own. But yesterday, when we were coming back from Gothi's hut… Something happened.

"He just _froze up._ Midair, like. It was sort of like the time he took us to their nest, but this time… This time, his legs went stiff, and his tail as well, straightening right out. His eyes were closed like he was asleep, but… He couldn't have been. It reminded me a bit of a study Fishlegs and I did on dragon's attack and defense behaviors - a lot of Nadders and Gronckles do that when they hear or smell danger nearby - but this was completely random. We were just on our way back here… I didn't even say anything, I don't think. We were just… Flying.

"Well, we started plummeting, of course, so I shook him, trying to get him to wake up, but he didn't even blink, or open his eyes. We might've died if he hadn't woken up at the last moment, and the trees hadn't been there to help break our fall. But when he woke up, too… It was almost like he didn't know what happened, or where he was. Something's _wrong_ with him, Astrid. Something very, very wrong."

He sighed. "I don't know what it is, though. And if anyone knows how, it's Gobber, and Fishlegs, too, along with everyone else. So, yes, I do want to figure out how to change you back as soon as possible, and I was worried about my Dad and the search parties…" He looked over at his dragon, who had moved on to licking his legs, for whatever reason. "But something is wrong with Toothless. I think… I think he might be sick. The scariest part of it all is that he doesn't even seem to realize what's happened to him after it's over. But… Don't ask him about it, alright? I can fix this for him, and I don't want something _else_ for him to worry about, as strange as I know that sounds."

He sat up on his knees, preparing to stand again - a somewhat more difficult feat with a metal leg, she knew.

"I just need to get him some help as soon as I can. I don't want him to suffer, and if this goes on for any longer… It'll be the death of us."

She took a moment to contemplate what he had said.

It was valid reasoning, of course. If something like that started happening to Stormfly, she didn't know what she would do. And considering how close the two of them were… She knew that if one of them suffered, the other would, too. On top of that, she couldn't help but admire his selflessness. While he took it a bit too far on occasion, he always seemed to have more true concern for those around him than himself, which was something she had always admired about him, at least when he wasn't being a smartass about it. Still, that meant that someone like _her_ always had to be around when he wasn't worrying enough about himself, and he had refused to take any more training and self-defense lessons with her on the account that they were 'inhumane' and 'ridiculously impossible', which she didn't understand at all.

As he walked over to his dragon, he turned back, as though suddenly remembering something. "Oh, and Astrid?" His eyes shot to the ground. "I-is there anything… Personal, of yours, that you wouldn't want Syl to see, or do? She's going to see almost every part of your life that you do. Sleeping in your house, eating with your parents... I know that you probably don't want me to see that much of your personal life either, but…?"

She started to shake her head, before stopping herself. She had never taken too much time to think about it - her daily activities were pretty public, at least in terms of in the Village. Of course, her mother would wish her goodnight every night, and she knew her father would silently come in to check on her as she fell asleep, too, but that was normal enough. All girls fathers did that kind of thing, right? There was nothing she could think of that would hinder the girl's disguise, or surprise her significantly. No traditions or prayers every night. At least, none that anybody else knew of. Of course, there was _one thing…_ But Syl wouldn't find it. She had taken lengths to ensure it was hidden and was the only one who knew about it, as well. No, she had nothing to worry about.

She shook her head again, more confidently, and smiled back, letting him hop on Toothless. The dragon looked at her as Hiccup situated himself on his saddle.

" _Astrid…"_ He turned his head, looking out over the lake. " _I don't really know what to tell you. I guess I… I just…"_ He paused for a moment and frowned, thinking.

" _When I was down here, I thought I was as good as dead, for a long time. I had no way out, and that scared me a lot more than you know. Hiccup kept bringing me back here every night after we flew, because it was safe, and hidden. I knew that. You were the first one to find it, and even you had to follow him down here. But I'm a dragon, and of the same kind as you, as well - you probably think that I don't know how you feel, but…"_ He looked back at her, a sympathy in his eyes so stunningly deep that it couldn't be described with mere words.

" _When I lost my tailfin, I felt like a part of me was gone. I was a Night Fury, as you call me - the fastest of my kin, and stealthiest, too. I was meant to be in the sky, unseen and silent. And then I was brought down, exposed, mercilessly trapped and put out for all to see. When Hiccup approached me that day with his knife… A small part of just wanted him to kill me - I had become everything I wasn't supposed to be. Yet… He spared me. He saw my weakness, my vulnerability, and he spared me. He's… He's a strong Viking, stronger than you, stronger than your leader, stronger than anyone else there._

" _It's not a strength shown through prowess in battle or killing. Until then I thought that that was the only kind there was. If strength wasn't physical, what else could it be? But… I've seen it in him. You've seen it, too. And it's that same strength I can see in his eyes when he says he wants to change you back. He will do this, Astrid, or else die trying. But I don't intend to let that happen. Don't lose hope in us. Get some practice moving around, too, especially with your tail, and maybe your wings. That tail's going to be sore for a few days, as well, after that maneuver you pulled in the forest I don't know how long you'll be down here, but it'll help, one way or another, as well as keep you busy. It's what I spent most of my time doing."_

He raised his wings to take off, but just before he did, added, " _Oh, and if you start hearing voices in your head, don't listen to them. It's mostly nonsense, anyway."_

Then, he leaped up, sending several powerful gusts of wind down on the ground, before stabilizing himself, and lifting off over the trees, leaving Astrid all alone in the chasm.

* * *

Syl and Stormfly caught up with them as soon as they lifted above the trees.

"Hey!" She yelled at him over the wind.

"Hello again!" He yelled back, having to blink once to remind himself it _wasn't_ Astrid sitting on Stormfly's saddle. "You seem a lot more comfortable than yesterday!"

"Well, the way I see it, if she's going to try to kill me, I have a much better chance back here than in front of her mouth! I'd rather plummet to my death than end up in the stomach of one of these beasts!" She yawned. "Or maybe I'm just too tired to care either way!"

He grinned and shifted Toothless's fin position. They would need to gain some altitude if they wanted to keep gliding, he knew. Toothless swooped upwards towards the clouds, and Syl urged Stormfly to follow, obviously taking it as a challenge.

"I'm not sure you're ready for dragon racing just yet!" He yelled down at her.

"Wanna bet?" She said, catching up to him, and commanding Stormfly to shift into a glide.

Hiccup snorted in disbelief and raised an eyebrow at his dragon, who only grinned back.

"Well, she's certainly getting into character…" He looked out over the trees in front of them, trying to judge the distance between themselves and the mountain that marked the back side of Berk.

"Alright, Toothless, we've got time," he told the dragon, "let's show her what you can do, huh, bud?"

He smiled a Toothless smile, tongue flapping in the wind, and tucked his wings against his side, going into a nosedive for a moment before pulling them back out, and screaming past her at almost twice the speed.

"You cheated!" He heard her yell at him.

"I won!" He replied as they struggled to catch up.

Eventually, they were side by side once again and glided for a few minutes in silence until Toothless landed near the base of the backside of the mountain, with Stormfly following close behind.

Syl nearly fell out of her saddle when she landed, forcing him to stifle a laugh. Toothless, on the other hand, was not so lenient and chuckled as he watched her climb off, looking quite flustered.

"You can tell your dragon to _shut up,"_ she snapped at him. "And as far as that race goes earlier, it's no wonder you won. You've had a few years practice, but I'm just getting started."

He raised an eyebrow, and she smirked, saying, "What? I'm kidding. Like I actually want to ride a dragon. I'm just doing this to get back home someday. Thought you would've figured that out by now. Just trying to get in character."

He nodded, becoming serious. "Good, because from this point on, you're no longer Syl - you're Astrid. That's all you _ever were._ I'll start calling you that, too."

She grinned. "Don't you mean your _girlfriend?"_

His cheeks flushed, and he quickly replied, "It's not like that, we're just… Friends, who are, um, very close to each other… And sometimes kiss. But we don't have to do that! I mean, um, don't do that. It's… Ah… We're just friends…" He winced.

She snorted. "Oh, come on, I saw the way you looked at her when you came out of the Great Hall... And when she's a dragon, actually - that's pretty weird, just so you know. Anyway, you're _in love._ It doesn't take a genius to see that."

"Wha-? No! I…" He looked back down at the ground, taking a sudden interest in his worn shoes.

"Oh, _really?"_ She asked, obviously trying to make Astrid's voice as romantically extravagant as possible. "Here, I'll do you one better - Oh, _Hiccup!_ I _love_ you! You're the most handsome, manly Viking I've ever met! I wish you'd swoop me up in your arms, take me away from the world, and kiss me like there's no tomorrow!"

She laughed as his face burned red, and he looked away. "Hah! Admit it; you've always wanted to hear her say it, and now she finally has… Sort of. Happy?"

He didn't respond - it was obvious this girl just _loved_ to torture him. Why couldn't _she_ have turned into a dragon?

She snorted, annoyed. "Whatever. You two are weird, but I can see how much you like her, even if I don't know what you see in her."

They continued to walk in silence until the mountain got too steep to just walk up.

"What now?" She asked him.

"Well," He said slowly, "This is it. We go around this Mountain, and we're almost right in the middle of the Village. My Dad'll be in the Great Hall if he isn't already out looking for us. Though I'm sure we'll see some people before we get there. So… Are you ready to go, _Astrid_?"

She smirked. "Only if you are, _boyfriend._ "

He winced. "Please don't call me that."

"Well," She replied, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "How about 'bud'? You seem to like calling ol' Toothy here that. Why not you?"

He shivered. "Just… Hiccup is fine."

She shrugged. "Whatever, Hiccup. Wouldn't have been my first choice."

He started around the mountain, Toothless at his side, and Stormfly following close behind before Syl stopped them. "Wait,"

He turned around. "Something wrong?"

She frowned. "Could you, ah, give me a minute alone? I promise I'll be right back. I just... Need to do something first."

He glanced up at the sky. Though the sun was hidden behind the mountain, a faint yellow line was making its way across the horizon, signaling the break of dawn, and the start of another day on Berk.

"Yeah, I guess we have a second or two. But what-" But before he could finish, she had already run off into the forest.

He shook his head, and turned to Toothless. "Well, things will settle down soon, bud. Kind of, anyway. I need to do a bit of research to find out how to bring Astrid back, but hopefully, it won't take too long. Tomorrow we can go out flying for two hours, though! How does that sound, bud?"

The dragon grinned back at him in response, purring deeply in his throat.

He smiled back. "Of course, she mentioned that it started from her wound, so does that mean it's some kind of infection? Well, it's certainly a dangerous one, if it is. But this sort of thing doesn't just happen to people. Syl doesn't say it's anything new, or out of the ordinary, though I doubt she knows that much about acid. Of course, I don't either, but... There must have been something that happened there that was _different_. I just wish I had seen it happen… If only _you_ could talk. Maybe you and Astrid can tell me a bit more tonight, but- Toothless?"

Caught up in his thoughts, he hadn't noticed the dragon collapse to the ground, his eyes roll back up into his head.

He gasped. "Oh, Gods, not again!"

He leaned down, and shook the dragon's head, but he only rested heavily in his arms, lifeless. Stormfly sniffed him with concern.

"Toothless, stay with me, bud! I'll be right back!" He ran into the woods as fast as he dared on his metal leg.

"Syl! Syl, are you out there? Syl!" He squinted, searching for her in the dimly lit forest, but it was impossible to see anything.

"I thought you said you were gonna call me Astrid from now on. What's up?" The voice came suddenly from behind him, and he whipped around, coming face to face with Syl. For a moment, he wondered what she had been doing, but didn't bother to ask.

"We need to go. _Now!"_

She raised an eyebrow, and followed him back through the forest when he started running back.

"Wait, what? What's going on?"

"This!" He gestured sharply at Toothless once they had reached him. Suddenly, he sprung up, clutching desperately at his head, his claws digging mercilessly into his scales.

"Wha-" Syl started as his eyes suddenly flashed open, and gazed right into her. He growled, and squeezed them shut again.

"What's going on? What's wrong with him?"

"I don't know! But we need to get him help, now! Stormfly, stay here!" He started running along the treeline at the base of the mountain, forcing her to follow him.

"But… What about the plan?!" She yelled after him.

"Just follow my lead! I just need to get him help, quick!"

"I thought _you_ were supposed to be the dragon expert around here! How is anyone else going to help?!"

"Gobber knows more about anatomy than me and even more about behavior!" He yelled back, trying to remember what he had told her about the two-limbed teacher. "If anyone here knows what's wrong, it's him!"

"Wouldn't it... Be faster... To fly there?!" She asked between quick breaths.

"I need Stormfly... To stay and watch... Toothless! We're almost there... Anyway!"

It was true; the first houses were starting to come into view around the bend - and the first Vikings, as well.

"Remember… Don't stop… And follow my lead! We'll have time to explain… Later on!"

They bolted into the village, ignoring anybody who noticed him or waved, and trying to take the closest possible route to the Great Hall, behind houses and sheds. As they leaped into the main path leading up to it, he heard a host of both mutterings and greetings fly past his ears, each of them suddenly cut off as he sprinted out of range.

"Hiccup… Chief's been worried sick… 'Thought the storm swept 'em out to… Astrid doesn't look… Wonder what happened to… Half of Berk's out looking…"

He ran past them all - their arrival in the town would formally be announced soon enough, he knew, but at that moment, all that mattered was Toothless.

As he climbed the steps, he spared a second to glance out over the horizon - the sun was indeed rising, and the day looked to turn out clear, if a bit cloudy. The cool morning air nipped at his skin, though it was still warmer than he was used to, having spent the majority of the past few years of his life soaring hundreds of feet in the sky.

He ripped his attention off of the landscape, and back to the task at hand. Reaching the top of the steps, he risked another glance back, this time at Syl. Most of her hair was matted to her forehead, some of it falling in front of her eyes, and a few of her fake scars were starting to run down her face, but it looked realistic enough to pass off as puss, dirt or blood from the wounds, disgusting as the concept may have been.

He leaned against the doors with all his might, trying to force them open. Syl helped, and together, tediously slowly, they were able to make the doors swing into the hall. Hiccup rushed in and turned to the nearest person he saw.

"Where's my Dad?!"

Looking quite flustered, the heavyset Viking pointed back out the door. "I don't think he's up yet, Hiccup. But where have _you_ -"

Before he could finish his sentence, they were back out the door, flying down the steps. He ran up to his house and slammed the door open. His father was standing there next to their fire pit, looking quite downcast, and holding a pile of firewood to add to the small blaze.

"D- Dad…" He stammered, leaning against the door, and catching his breath.

His father's eyes widened, and his mouth slowly dropped open. "Son…"

The logs clattered to the floor.


	12. The Test

**Ahoy, everyone!**

 **By the time this goes out, school will have started, so this will technically be the last chapter of this summer. In a certain sense, this is actually a good thing, because as I stated previously, I'll probably be able to get into a better schedule, which means more frequent and hopefully on-time updates. Probably.**

 **I don't have a lot more to say about this one. I'd love to know which chapters, perspectives or storylines you like the most, as well as the least, though I'd like to think that I've only officially gotten the characters under way at this point. Conveniently segmenting into my next bit, make sure to favorite, follow and leave a review! Many thanks especially to those of you who have already!**

 **I don't own How to Train Your Dragon.**

* * *

The air in the room was thick and raw as if the house itself were holding its very breath, waiting anxiously for a sound, a tremor, a _movement_. Anything to betray the silence, the tension and anger that he knew had built up within him after three days of searching for his disappeared son, with no luck. They stared at each other for another moment, he leaning against the door catching his breath, his father standing there weakly, hands dangling limply to his sides. A log rolled back and forth slowly on the floor, before coming to a stop.

"Son…" He repeated, more anxiously this time. "Hiccup… My son!"

Before he could reply, Stoick rushed over and lifted him off the floor in an embrace strong enough to crush a Monstrous Nightmare's windpipe. He was so surprised and tired that he didn't have the time nor the energy to speak, or move, and so he simply let himself go limp for a minute, before starting to kick again as he squeezed him even harder. They both stayed that way for a moment, Hiccup listening to his father's vain attempts at holding back sobs, whilst he struggled to make his feet come into contact with the ground, as well as get even a sliver of air into his lungs.

Though it took another moment, he was eventually able to wheeze out, "D-Dad…" And his father suddenly remembered the grass blade-thin bone structure of his son and released him quickly.

Taking a deep breath, and trying to maintain a serious countenance, he slowly replied, "Hiccup… You're… Where have you been, son? What…" He glanced up at Syl for a moment, who was still standing awkwardly in the doorway, and took note of her scars, before frowning back down at him. "What happened to you two?"

"I can… E-Explain later… Dad…" Hiccup replied, still trying to make his breathing normal. "Toothless is… He's…"

Stoick's eyes widened. "Toothless? What happened?"

He nodded. "He… W-We were coming back and he… He's behind the mountain… North of the Village f-farm… Stormfly's there, too..."

He frowned, and took his attention off of Hiccup for a moment, pushing past Syl suddenly, and leaning out the door. He heard him yell something to two Vikings that happened to be walking nearby, and they ran off towards Gobber's workshop.

He turned back to them, frowning. "Alright, now you two better as 'ell start explaining, or I swear to the Gods I'll take away _both_ of your flying privileges for the rest of your life, ya hear me?"

"But Toothless-" Hiccup replied weakly.

"Will be fine," his father finished, with a heavy sigh. "Gobber'll take care of him, Hiccup. You know that. Toothless might be an odd 'un out of the bunch, but he's a dragon just like the rest. He'll know what to do." He patted his son's arm as softly as he could, before narrowing his eyes again.

"As to you two, first of all, don't you _ever_ do that ta' me again. It's hard enough knowing you go around doing these stunts in the air, Hiccup, never mind all the times you and your friends run off to do who-knows-what. I… I worry about ye', son. Just, please…"

He closed his mouth for a moment, thinking, then opened it again, but no words came out. Then he continued quickly, "Just… Be careful. You don't have to prove anything ta' me, Hiccup."

The boy's eyes widened at his father's comment. A few years ago, he would have given anything to hear his father say that, even if he didn't mean it. _Maybe I should've gotten lost in the woods a lot sooner…_ He thought to himself.

The Chief's eyes flicked to Syl, and he pulled two stools from next to the fire pit, motioning for her to come over.

Hiccup saw her eyes widen, and she stared at him desperately, seeking an excuse to get out of there. She had known a moment like this would come, of course - they had talked about it in as great of detail as they had time for, of course - though perhaps not under these circumstances.

Slowly, she walked over to them, and took a seat, keeping her eyes locked firmly on Hiccup the entire time. Stoick's brows furrowed as he observed her scars, as well as the bandages wrapped around her head.

"Gods be merciful… Are you alright, Astrid? Do your parents know you're here, yet?"

"I-I… Uh…" She stuttered.

"No, we came straight here," Hiccup interrupted. "They might have seen her coming into the Village, though." He glanced over at Syl, who quickly gave him a relieved glance and mouthed the word 'thanks', before turning her attention back to his father.

Stoick grunted, bringing a hand up to her face. She flinched but didn't move.

"These scars… What-?"

"We were caught up in the storm and separated. Toothless and I had to-"

"Thank you, Hiccup," Stoick chuckled, "But I'd hear her speak first if you don't mind."

Hiccup opened his mouth to speak again, but then closed it, giving Syl a concerned glance.

This was it - the true test of her loyalty. She could blow it all right then if she wanted, just tell him everything in her fear, reveal his carefully thought out plan, and destroy any hope he and Astrid had at keeping their secret.

In that moment, despite everything she had done to them, Hiccup couldn't help but feel sorry for her. The situation she had lodged herself in was one he couldn't imagine being in himself. If she _did_ tell his father, she would inevitably be thrown in a cell, as well as questioned and bargained off to her mother, perhaps in exchange for a peace treaty or oath of friendship. Though the implications of that were harsh, especially given the fact that her mother probably wouldn't even take her back at all, undertaking their plan was an entirely new prison in itself, he realized.

Even if she _did_ tell him everything, she would at least know what was going to happen to her. Despite her obvious remorse and hatred towards her mother, getting caught didn't seem to be something she wasn't already used to, so she could anticipate what would happen, assuming her mother did take her back.

But if she chose to stay… There was no way of telling how long she would have to do this for. Here she was, expected to put up a facade as a person she had _never even talked to_ for a completely unpredictable amount of time. It could take anywhere between a few days and a few months for him to figure out a way to bring Astrid back, assuming he ever did at all. He could understand why she had only agreed to do it for a day - in truth, he was surprised she had agreed to anything at all. But even if she did leave that night, where would she go? Sure, she could hide, but the island wasn't _that big,_ and all of the boats he could think of were at the docks below the village, including even the smaller rowboats and fishing craft that weren't used as often. He could always find a way to help her off or even fly her back to her island if she was willing. Astrid wouldn't like that much, especially given the situation _she_ was in, too, but perhaps if he could get her to understand…

Even if, by some miracle, she chose to stay _and_ he found a cure, what then? It would only be the same process over again, only this time she would be _kicked out_ when the real Astrid came back. Truly, there was no good reason for her to go along with them. Unless, of course, there was something he didn't know about…

She nodded back sternly at him and turned to Stoick. "We got caught up in the storm while we were on patrol. The wind was too much for Stormfly, and we ended up crash landing in the forest North of Raven's Point. I was thrown off of her saddle on the way and fell down through the branches, which scraped me up a bit. I don't think I broke anything, though, and I feel just fine. But the storm was just so bad… I got caught in a landslide trying to look for shelter, and Stormfly was still outside, but she didn't want to leave me…"

Hiccup breathed a sigh of relief, and continued for her, "Toothless and I were downed in the storm, too, and we found a cave to hide in near a beach. I spent the last two days looking for her, until I found her under the landslide, and dug her out. Luckily, I had some bandages with me, too, which have helped a bit, I think. Then we came back together, but something went wrong before we got here, and Toothless…" His mind wandered back to his best friend's sudden bout. "I'm not sure, but… I think he might be sick. I wanted to come back and get help, But… I didn't want to leave Astrid in the forest. I couldn't…"

His father frowned at him grimly. "Ye' should've come back sooner, Hiccup. Half the village thought you were… You were…" He sighed and looked away.

"I know, Dad… I'm really sorry," he replied sheepishly. "I won't do it again, I promise."

He grunted. "If ye' ever do, just… Come back first, alright? We might've found Astrid a lot sooner, and... And I don't want you going missin' like that ever again. Deal?"

Hiccup nodded slowly.

His father chuckled to himself, "'Stubborn as I was with Valka when I was your age…"

He sighed, and stood up, making his way to the door. "Well, I suppose we should go find Toothless then, eh? You need to go find your parents, as well. Then we'll tell the rest of the Village. Hiccup and I can go check up on him while you go-"

"Actually, Chief…" She swallowed hard as he looked back at her, and continued, "I left Stormfly with Toothless to protect him, so she's probably still with him. And… I'd like to make sure he's, y'know, alright… I can go back to my parents after."

Stoick raised an eyebrow, but shrugged, and replied, "Suit yourself, though your parents are worried sick about ye'. We'll feast tonight in the Great Hall."

He pulled the door open and let them through. Hiccup saw her smile at him hopefully, and he was barely able to return it before he was rushing down the hill into town again, as fast as his mismatching legs could carry him.

They found them outside of Gobber's shop, surrounded by a group of scattered Vikings, with Stormfly staring worriedly inside. He rushed to the front, pushing them aside with all his might, which wasn't much. In the center of the circle was Gobber, and standing next to him, Toothless, who looked… Absolutely fine. He purred deeply and padded past some curious Vikings as soon as he saw him, guiding the palm of his hand into his snout.

Hiccup stared down in disbelief, breathing heavily. "But… T-Toothless…"

Gobber smiled and walked over to him, resting his one good hand on his shoulder. "Glad to see ya back, Hiccup! You too, Astrid. We found 'em out behind the mountain like ye' said. Don't know what you were so worked up about, though. Astrid's beast seemed a bit nervous, but Toothless was happy as a fish out of a net! I Don't see anything wrong with 'im myself, but, well" He shrugged. "Ye' know yer dragon better than I do."

He frowned as he continued to look down at Toothless. "Are… Are you okay, bud?" He cocked his head to the side and raised an eyebrow innocently. Then he purred again and started to lick his face. All the Vikings laughed, any previous tension completely gone.

"Okay, okay bud," He told him, chuckling as his tongue tickled his cheeks. "As long as you're alright… I guess there's nothing else." He smiled as sincerely as he could around at the other Vikings, and they dispersed, all except for Gobber, who had noticed Hiccup's still deeply worried eyes.

"If ya' really think something's wrong," he whispered, "Ye' might want to go up 'n see Gothi. She's been 'ere longer than any of us. Might know somethin' we don't."

With that, he shuffled back into his house, leaving Syl, Hiccup and the two dragons alone in front of the workshop.

"You… You saw what happened..." Hiccup asked her worriedly. "It wasn't just me… Right?"

She frowned and looked down at the dragon. "Yeah… Unless the other dragons do that… That's not supposed to happen, right?"

"No…" He furrowed his eyebrows. "No, it's not."

* * *

Do… Do I have to?"

"It's your _parents._ You can't avoid it. If anything, they'll be the easiest for you to talk to here, believe me. Your mother's probably worried sick about you."

" _My_ mother isn't…"

Hiccup groaned. They had been standing in front of Astrid's house for half an hour, going back and forth on why she should go in. Hiccup had convinced his father to let he and Syl tell them, on the account that it would be better if she found out her daughter was back from the girl herself, as well as to avoid making the scene more public and awkward. Yet for some reason, she seemed specifically reluctant to meet her family, which seemed especially odd, given that they had explained at length how little of her day she actually spent in her house, anyway, never mind talking to her parents.

"I… I don't think she's - I mean _you're_ \- that personal with them, anyway. Just… Don't be too _strict_ with them, alright? They are your parents, after all. You're gonna need to get used to it." Toothless grumbled behind them in agreement.

She rolled her eyes. "Fine. But you come in with me. I don't want any of this getting too… Weird."

"Just," He shrugged helplessly. "Pretend they're your long lost aunt and uncle, or something. Don't you have any of those?"

"No… Do you?"

"Uh," He looked away quickly. "I'd rather not talk about it. 'Wouldn't want to distract you, anyway."

She rolled her eyes and opened the door.

There was no response. They both waited in silence for a moment, then Syl glanced at Hiccup, before asking, "Uh… Hello?"

There was a crash towards the back of the house, and Hiccup winced.

"Ruffnut, is that you?" A throaty but cheerful voice called out, "I could've sworn for a moment ye' sounded just like…" The voice became a shape, as Astrid's mother stepped into the doorway into the kitchen.

She gasped. "... Astrid."

She stood there for a moment in utter shock, before running back into the kitchen, and yelling, quite clearly, "Brandt, Brandt! Get your lazy bum outta bed. Astrid's back!"

There was another crash as Astrid's father hastily climbed out of bed, and she glanced down awkwardly as he swore curses against his pants, obviously struggling to get dressed, as well. He rushed out alongside her mother, still pulling on

She fiddled nervously at her braid, and eventually gained enough courage to look at them. "Uh… Hey, Mom and Dad… I'm back, I guess…" The two Vikings looked at her strangely for a moment, making Hiccup freeze. Had they figured it out? He could understand her worries, now - if anybody were to figure out their ploy, it would be Astrid's parents, of course. As little time as she spent with them, they would still know her better than anyone…

Then her mother broke out in tears, and cried, "You two need to stop doin' this to us!"

The two fully Viking-sized figures surrounded Syl, and squeezed her, lifting her almost a foot into the air. To say that she was surprised would be an understatement - bewildered might have been a better word for it. Hiccup couldn't help but smirk as he was reminded of the bone-crushing hug his own father had given him just a few minutes before. Obviously, Syl didn't have the same dense bone structure or muscle thickness as Astrid, nor the capacity for Viking-level hugging, for some reason, given the pure confusion in her eyes even after they finally released her.

Her mother gasped as she examined her, seeming only to have noticed her scars and bruises just then.

"Astrid! What's 'appened to you? Yer' all bruised up! Have you seen Gothi yet? Gobber, maybe? I have some bandages upstairs if you need any… Astrid?"

Syl continued to stand there, arms dangling loosely by her sides, gazing blankly at a wall in the room. It was only a moment later that she realized they were all staring at her.

"Oh! I-I… Uh… No. I don't need anything." She blinked, as though trying to remember what she was saying. "W-We were caught up in the storm… And…" She frowned as her voice trailed off, and she went back to staring at the wall.

"And we got separated," he finished, studying her apprehensively.

She nodded, still dazed for some reason. "Y-Yeah. I was downed on Stormfly, and there was a... A mudslide..."

After a few more fruitless efforts, Hiccup clarified how she was tired, as she hadn't slept in a few days and had been stuck underground. He continued on, explaining what had happened to them, with Syl eventually regaining her composure somewhat and contributing, despite consistently blanking out in the midst of her descriptions or sentences, making Hiccup even more worried.

After a few more worried examinations and questions from her parents, Syl was eventually able to convince them that she was fine, and just a bit tired from not having slept for the past few days. They eventually let them leave, with promises to see that she would see Gobber again about her bruises, and would come to them first if she so much as coughed or sneezed. They were standing outside the door again, watching as Berk slowly woke up, when Hiccup turned to her.

"Alright, what in Odin's name was _that_ all about?"

She raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"The... Distracted-ness, or whatever that was. You were acting like… Like you'd never been _hugged_ before, or something," He snickered, but grew serious when he saw she wasn't smiling.

"You… You have been hugged before, right?"

She shrugged, trying to brush it off, and looked away. "It's just… It's been a long time. A really long time."

He sighed. "Alright, just… You don't normally fade out like that… Okay?"

She nodded quickly. "Yeah, don't worry. 'Won't happen again."

She went back to watching the Village, the same vacant look in her eyes returning again. Though this time, Hiccup almost thought he noticed something else, too - fear.

* * *

Astrid was surprised.

She had taken a moment to think about what would happen, sure. She would be spending a lot of time in that ravine - in fact, _all_ of her time until Hiccup changed her back. She had anticipated the worrying, the fear, and the anger towards Syl, Hiccup and herself for letting him go through with this stupid plan. But above all else, there was one thing she hadn't predicted, something that, on top of everything else, one thing frustrated her to no end.

She was incredibly, irrevocably, _bored._

Sure, she was still constantly worrying about Hiccup, as well as Syl, if only because as of that day, she literally had full control her life. But while she had spent a decent half hour running through everything that could possibly go wrong with their plan in her head, she eventually ran out of the effort or reasoning to do so. It wasn't helping, and yet, she still felt the overwhelming impulse that she needed to be doing _something._

She had come to terms with the fact that she couldn't help Hiccup much, of course. Thus, she knew she probably couldn't aid in the effort to bring herself back, aside from thinking of other solutions to her problem to suggest or try later on, the majority of which Hiccup had probably already considered.

But above all else, she hated to be _unproductive._ Sure, she had her own hobbies and moments of free time to herself. She knew she would probably go crazy if she didn't. After the war ended, fighting and dragon combat training was no longer the main priority, it was true - but to her, that only meant she would practice her techniques six hours a day instead of nine. Even dragon riding and axe-throwing she still considered practice, and she knew from experience how well it paid off. She had been a warrior for as long as she could remember. Drills had become pastimes, and training a hobby. Fighting alone had become an essential part of her lifestyle, and more importantly, her personality. Without that, without those rigorous hours spent in the forest throwing and swinging at trees, what was she?

A dragon, apparently. At least, that seemed to be the only position she could be in where she couldn't bring herself to do _anything._ Before, she had never really seen a day where she would just _stop. Stop_ fighting. _Stop_ training. It would never happen.She was a Viking, an honorable warrior! And yet here she was, lying on the beach in the same place Hiccup first met Toothless, doodling aimlessly in the sand. _Doodling._ The mere concept gave her shivers - she was already starting to act like Hiccup.

Of course, she could still 'practice'. Loathe as she was to admit it, Toothless had, once again, been right - she hadn't been prepared for ground combat, nor was she in complete control of her senses, given how easily Syl had crept up on her. And yet, if she _did_ practice anything at all, she would technically be going against everything she stood for as a Viking. Sure, the flying reptiles were far from their enemies, but as the fears of Hiccup and Syl's quest slowly faded from her mind, it was replaced with the past terrors of becoming full-dragon. Intelligent as they may have been, they _were_ wild animals, and now she was trapped in the body of one. She loved Stormfly, of course, but she was still hauntingly reminded of the feral, primitive look in her eyes she had gotten when Snoggletog came around, and she had flown off across the ocean, abandoning her without so much as a chitter of goodbye. Toothless had only avoided it because there weren't any other Night Furies, yet this year… She didn't even want to think about it.

But then, what else was she supposed to do? Nothing. She couldn't do anything productive or even somewhat time-consuming without breaking her oaths as a warrior, never mind actually trying to figure out just what the _hell_ had happened to her _._

She had no reason to care or worry, really. All the time in the world to just lie around, sleep, and think.

She absolutely hated it.

* * *

Hiccup loathed crowds.

As a kid, he quickly learned that crowds only tended to form when something either exciting or bad was happening, and most of the time that bad thing was him.

At first, nobody had really cared about his little 'accidents'. All kids made mistakes, right? Sure, his tended to be a little more destructive than most others, but that was just a fluke… Or a series of flukes...

Right?

Apparently not. For as he got older, and was quite obviously dignified as the 'runt' out of his peers, his screw-ups quickly became a lot less adorable and a lot more annoying. Sometimes they _were_ complete accidents, little things that just seemed to go wrong when he was around. But so many of them _could_ be considered his fault that he got blamed for them all, anyway.

He learned quite quickly how easily Vikings assessed blame. Nobody tended to care about him all that much until their own lives, in particular, were affected. Whether it was accidentally burning down their house, or letting their livestock free as a result of a misfired contraption, almost every family in Berk became the victims of his mistakes, at one point or another. From there on, it became simple - any major accident in the Village could be pinned on him, and it was usually true. His father tried to ignore it at first. As Chief, he would often be running back and forth through the Village, taking down as many dragons as he could, as well as helping those on the towers and lookouts.

But soon, though he never saw nor heard them, Hiccup knew that the complaints began to reach his father's ears. The Chief brushed them off at first, but it soon became quite obvious in the raids how often these incidents were occurring. As his contraptions and projects became more and more elaborate, the catastrophes following their failures did as well, until nearly any of his calamities could be seen halfway across Berk.

And then, they would _gather._ Oh, he hated that most of all. Silently, furiously, they would make a wide circle around him and whatever disaster he had just caused, and right in the center, his father, always with another lecture to give him in front of the _entire Village._ As if the regular ones weren't enough.

Indeed, he and crowds had never been a good thing when put together.

And yet, where Hiccup was mostly just annoyed to be standing on a crumbling wooden platform with his father in front of all of Berk, Syl seemed absolutely _petrified._

She was dead still, staring straight out over the heads in the crowd, trying to avoid eye contact, although he had learned a long time ago how fruitless it was. Though this time, it was a _good_ thing. Quite a rare occasion for him, truly.

"I still don't understand why we're up here…" She whispered to him.

"My Dad wants to announce that we're back," Hiccup replied.

She raised an eyebrow. "Are we really _that_ important?" He shrugged. Though he had to admit that it was rather odd - everyone would have found out quickly enough - if they even knew that they had been missing in the first place - and yet his Dad had insisted upon gathering the entire Village to announce their return. Why?

"Vikings of Berk!" The Chief called out, silencing the crowd's murmurs. " To start, I'd like to apologize for my distraught behavior these past few days. In my worry over my son, I ignored my duties as a Chief, and to our Village."

 _Really?_ Hiccup thought to himself, _Was Dad that upset about me being gone for a few days? This is a first…_

"I only ask that you forgive me," He continued. There were some nods and grunts of agreement, as well as some whistles. "But I bring good news! My son has returned-"

There was a wave of cheering as he gestured to him, and Hiccup smiled and waved awkwardly out over the crowd.

"-along with Astrid!" There was more cheering, just as loud as they had for Hiccup, if not even rowdier.

If Syl was stiff before, she became as rigid as a plank then. Hiccup nudged her, and she flinched, ripping her eyes away from the crowd for a moment. "Come on, wave. Be proud of it. You survived the worst storm Berk's seen in decades, as well as getting trapped under a landslide for _two days_."

Glancing at him with concern first, she lifted her hand, and the cheering resurged. She smiled tentatively for a moment until it died down.

"Is… Is it always like this?" She asked him once his father had started talking again.

"Hah!" He laughed, "I wish. I'd be lucky if I went a day without someone here getting mad at me. _You,_ on the other hand…"

She smirked. "Alright, so maybe _my_ life is okay here. But you have a _Night Fury_. And you were the first dragon rider too, right? That's gotta mean something. 'Certainly does on the, ah, _enemy_ island."

"Yeah…" He frowned, looking down at his dragon, who was watching them both from below the platform, along with Stormfly and a few others.

His friends were in the crowd, as well, cheering with the rest of them, but calling out names for them both, as well. They had avoided them thus far, though not exactly on purpose - one moment they had been walking through the Village, and the next, Gobber was whisking them both off to the raised wooden platform near the Academy, and his father was calling for every Viking in Berk to gather round.

Once the crowd had settled into normal conversation, his father got their attention again, and started to talk about the recent storm, and the rebuilding efforts that had begun since, as well as their currently gathered resources for the winter. Then he dismissed them, and they began to disperse, going back to their daily jobs.

 _Winter,_ Hiccup thought to himself. _Bringing Astrid back won't take that long, right? We'll have this all sorted before then… Assuming I don't screw everything up somehow._

Syl turned to him as they walked away a few minutes later. "That was quite a lot of cheering back there. Do they really like… _Me,_ that much?"

Hiccup snorted. " _Fear_ you might be a better way of saying it, though they all love to see you fight, too. Swinging an ax around here is much more important than reading a book, and you _do_ have quite a reputation for it. Just… Don't let it go to your head. You've got to keep up _your_ reputation too, remember?"

She nodded slowly, smirking to herself.

They turned down the path, only to come face-to-face with the person Hiccup wanted to see least right then.

"Hey, _Snotlout_ ," Hiccup said to the burly, overconfident boy standing in front of him, glancing at Syl once to see if she had caught it, though it would be obvious enough who he was.

"Hey, beautiful," He replied, completely ignoring him and gazing shrewdly at Syl. "What took you so long to get back? You looked pretty majestic up there, you know…"

Hiccup had to hold back a snort. Snotlout was so caught up in her 'beauty', that he probably didn't even notice the scars and bruises on her face, never mind the fact that she _wasn't actually Astrid._

"Ugh, Get a _life,_ Snotlout." She told him, crossing her arms. "And stay out of mine."

He smirked. "But you _are_ my life, babe. You're, like, my entire _world._ "

"Oh, really?" It was her turn to sneer. "Then you won't mind this at all."

Snotlout was barely able to raise an eyebrow before her fist flew into his chest, just above his stomach and below his ribcage. He gasped as the air was swept out of him, and sunk down to one knee.

"G-glad to see our relationship hasn't ch-changed…" He wheezed out, falling back into the mud.

She rolled her eyes, and muttered, "Whatever," before walking away, leaving Hiccup in a stunned silence.

He ran up to her a moment later as she walked further into the Village. "That was… Something. How did you…?"

She shrugged. "Nothing much. I'm pretty used to dealing with those kinds of guys, to be honest. You don't have to be that strong. You just need to know where to hit 'em, and when. _Dragons_ , on the other hand..." She shivered.

He laughed. "Well, we all have our weaknesses, I guess. Even dragons."

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really?"

"Yeah, they're allergic to eels, and-" He frowned. "I probably shouldn't be telling you this."

"Well, dragon training is a pretty big part of life here, right? I should probably get caught up to speed if I'm gonna keep doing… Y'know."

He narrowed his eyes before glancing around to make sure no one was listening. "I thought you _hated_ dragons. You still stay away from Toothless _and_ Stormfly as much as you can - don't think I haven't noticed."

She sighed. "Well, I can't just go fumbling around them. From what I heard, Astrid was the second person to ever ride one, after you."

He sighed. "That's true, but-"

"I'll be fine," She interrupted. "Just show me where to go next. The day'll go by nice and quick, I'm sure."

He smiled. "I guess I'll just have to take your word for it."

* * *

Astrid had had enough.

She could understand why Hiccup was always complaining about his job at the blacksmith. Standing around, watching all of the action and fire-fighting take place - it must've been aggravating for him to know and watch the true battle going on around him, while he was subjected to sharpening blades and tools. Here, though, she didn't even _see_ what was going on. For all she knew, Syl had already revealed her secret, and there was a search party on their way to find her. Yet still, this wasn't enough to make her get up and do something.

Eventually, however, the fear of becoming less of a human was outweighed by the need to do _something_ , and she got up, looking for the least dragon-like physical thing to do. The pickings were slim.

Eventually, she settled for just walking back and forth across the beach. It was good practice, anyway. After all, she still hadn't _quite_ mastered land movement, despite the fact that she could go from point A to B rather easily by then.

Her tail was sore from the stunt she had pulled in her fight with Syl, but she did her best to ignore it. The limb just dragged around on the ground behind her, trailing through the sand. Her wings had luckily stayed folded up, and though she knew that she could probably control them in the same way she could her tail, there was _no way_ she would be doing that anytime soon.

What had Toothless told her? Something about moving around, keeping active? It sounded like what the Chief and her parents told her to do if she was ever captured. It _was_ a cell, really. The only difference was that _she_ was the only one keeping herself in there. That, and her trust in Hiccup. His plan may have been absolutely crazy, but that was more or less the standard, and they _did_ work… Most of the time.

Of course, there was something else…

At least it was more physically painful than anything else. It had been there since the moment she had woken up three days before, and had only grown since. Her sides had started to hurt, too. Not to a dangerously unhealthy degree, but enough for it to be noticeable. Her eyes kept darting to the lake as she paced across the beach. She couldn't… She _wouldn't._ It was completely out of the question. There was no way she was going _that far._

She frowned, and laid back down, staring at the water ruefully.

The fish in the lake were starting to look a lot tastier than she was willing to admit.


	13. The Hunger

**Hello, everyone...**

 **I am so, so sorry. No good excuse for this being so late. I'm just terrible at time management. Please leave a review, and be sure to follow this story to receive updates in the future. Thank you.**

 **I don't own How to Train Your Dragon.**

* * *

Syl following behind warily, Hiccup trudged up the hill towards the Academy.

"This place, too?" She asked suddenly, making him stop and turn. They had managed to avoid any more serious meetings with people since their confrontation with Snotlout, keeping encounters down to curt nods and short greetings with the occasional person in the Village. Syl had been silent since, choosing to observe the Village and landscape. If Astrid had her way, she would've been blindfolded and gagged as soon as they stepped outside, but of course, Hiccup had been a bit more lenient.

"Uh, yeah. Though we'll probably be here for most of the day. The others should be here soon, too… That is, if they actually decide to come for once."

"Others, huh?" She raised an eyebrow, smirking. "They don't like this place? This is your old kill ring and dragon cages, if I'm not mistaken. I think it's kinda fun."

He winced. "Yeah, well… We don't really use it for that anymore. It's the dragon Academy, now, but that might be stretching the term 'Academy' just a bit. We're all supposed to come down here to study each other's dragons and train, and if anyone has any questions, they usually come to us, too, but… It doesn't really work that way."

"Why not?"

He frowned, "Well-"

Before he could answer, the sound of an explosion rocked the top of the hill, and a thick stream of smoke billowed up out of the metal grates that served as the ceiling of the ring.

Hiccup winced. "That's why."

They ran the rest of the way up the hill and into the ring, only to find the twins and their dragon - or dragons, Hiccup still wasn't sure what to call either of them - standing there giggling deliriously at each other, completely covered with soot. Ruffnut smiled when she saw them. "Aw, hey, Astrid! Glad to see you back!"

"Yeah, we were getting worried. Ruffnut's been crying every night." Tuff explained.

"Was not!" Ruff punched him.

"Was, too!" Tuff shoved her.

Hiccup sighed, and leaned over to Syl, whispering "This is, ah-"

"The twins? Yeah, I see what you and Astrid meant. Pretty obvious."

He nodded tiredly, and they waited for a moment, until their fight inevitably ended after they got too tangled up to even properly fight anymore, and resorted to curses instead as they tried to free themselves. Eventually, that stopped too, as they finally caught their breath.

"Yeah," Hiccup said, shaking his head, "We were both gone for a few days. See, the storm got us down-"

"Wait," Tuffnut interrupted, managing to free one of his arms only to stroke his nonexistent beard. " _You_ were gone? Since when?"

He groaned. "Since Astrid was! We got lost together-"

"Oh, a night of romance!" Ruffnut heckled, trying to spit in her brother's face. "How long have you been waiting for _that_ moment, Hiccup? Ten years?"

"That is _not_ what I said! Or what we… Did." Hiccup replied quickly, clenching his teeth and fists. Syl smirked.

"Were you two even _at_ the announcement a few minutes ago?"

"What announce-" Ruff started, before letting out a sharp yelp. "Ow! Stop pulling on my hair!"

"That's _my_ hair!"  
"No it's not, _idiot!_ You can't feel my hair!"

"Of course I can! I'm pulling on it!"

They seemed to try to launch into another brawl, before realizing that they were still tangled, and so they went back to cursing each other. Syl shook her head in fascination.

"It's… It's like instinct to them, or something - fighting, that is. It's a miracle they're still alive."

Hiccup snickered. "It's a miracle their dragon is, too. Half the time, I don't think they even realize he - or she, I'm really not sure - is there."

"Really," Syl nodded, eyes widening suddenly. "Oh, that reminds me… If I stay, am I gonna have to… You know… _Feed_ Stormfly, and clean her, and stuff?"

She said it as though the mere concept was the worst thing she could possibly imagine. Hiccup smirked.

"Well, I can show you how the first time. She has kind of a specific diet, from what I've heard, too. But after that…" He shrugged carelessly, still retaining a slight grin.

Syl groaned.

"I don't get it," she sneered. "You're telling me they steal food from us all their lives, fend and kill for themselves, and when you - sorry, _we_ \- finally take them in, for the gods know what reason, they suddenly expect _us_ to feed and take care of them, like… Like babies!"

He rolled his eyes. "Well, _we_ wouldn't want them taking the food we've saved up, would we? This is much better than it used to be. _You_ should know that more than anyone."

"I'd disagree…" She muttered, ending the argument.

They watched the two of them fight for few more minutes, until they heard another high-pitched voice come rushing up the hill with a myriad of jumbled words and questions, its host appearing in the gate to the ring just a few moments later. The bibliophilic, overweight, timid dragon trainer slumped over, catching his breath, before continuing his stream of incoherent mumbling.

"Hiccup, Astrid! Are you alright? I knew that you were missing, and…. Looked through all the maps to figure out where you were… Made some suggestions to Stoick before he left, but he didn't-"

"Woah, woah," Hiccup interrupted at Syl's confused glance. "Fishlegs, slow down for a moment. What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" He asked, exasperation dripping from his tone like the sweat on his brow. "What's wrong is that you two were gone for almost three days! Nobody could find you! I checked all the maps, and logs from old explorers, but I couldn't figure it out, either! Your Dad and the others said they'd looked everywhere. Where _were_ you?"

"Uh," Hiccup replied, sending a puzzled glance toward Syl, who seemed equally perplexed. "We had to look for shelter after the storm. But after that… I don't know how you didn't find us." He meant it, too. After seeing all of the Vikings they had sent out to find he and Astrid, even he was a bit shocked that they hadn't. Sure, Hiccup knew that the cove he and Toothless had trained in was probably one of the safest places on the island, but that had been long _before_ anyone was out looking for him - or a Night Fury - in the woods. Except for Astrid, of course. The one person who had actually followed them ended up eventually becoming the beast living there. It was horribly ironic, when he thought about it. Kind of like an old folk tale.

He asked a few more questions, mainly concerning how well Stormfly and Toothless had been able to hold up in the storm, as well as a few things he had added to the Book of Dragons notes they had been working on together.

"That reminds me," Hiccup remembered, "Toothless has been acting sort of… Off, lately. I didn't really think much of it at first - he was just a bit distracted, is all. But then he's started blanking out in mid-flight, and… And…"

He frowned. "I don't know. Just… I think he's sick. Really sick. But he acts fine most of the time. Have… Have you heard of anything like that?"

Fishlegs glanced back at Meatlug, as though having some sort of conversation with her. Upon Syl's request, they had left Toothless and Stormfly outside, and he could understand why. Though he still argued that she needed to get used to dragons, he could understand why she might not want to be locked in a giant metal cage with a few of them after spending only two days in their company. Even HE got nervous in there sometimes - memories of past near-death experiences in training during the war gave him enough nightmares as it was. Teaching a school in the same place with the same dragons? It was crazy, even by his standards.

Fishlegs shook his head. "No… I've found almost nothing on Night Furies at all, but you already knew that. Though this could be a dragon-wide illness... Why do you think he's sick?"

"He just… Fades out," Hiccup replied. "But when he comes back, he… Well, he goes kinda crazy. Last time he started scratching his head, like there was… _Something,_ in there."

Fishlegs rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Head mites are extremely rare in dragons, as they tend to keep themselves rather clean, and well, are giant, fire-breathing reptiles. Even diseases are scared of them. It might always be something else, of course. It's been a little while since they were freed from the Green Death, too, so it could have something to do with that. Anyway, I'll look into it, if I can. I think there's a basic dragon anatomy book lying around the Great Hall somewhere…" He furrowed his eyebrows in deep thought, before blinking and refocusing.

"Ah, well, later on. I'm glad that you're back, Hiccup. Oh, and, uh, you too, Astrid." With that, he and Meatlug ambled into the academy towards the barrels of fish and rocks they kept toward the back, making a wide girth around the twins, who were still just as entangled as they had been before he had walked in, if not more so.

"So…" Syl began a few moments later. "Who else is in this 'Dragon acad-'"

"THE MASTER DRAGON RIDER HAS ARRIVED!" A nasally, cracking voice called from somewhere above the academy. Not a moment later, a large shadow fell over the ring, as a red dragon nearly crashed into the metal, claws scraping it with a sharp screech and sending sparks raining down on top of them before suddenly pulling back up.

"Oh, you have got to be _kidding me!"_ Syl yelled, whipping around to face him. "You gave him a _Monstrous Nightmare?!"_

"We didn't _give_ Hookfang to him. They… Found each other," He replied sheepishly. "Didn't you see the two of them earlier? He was standing right next to him!"

"I thought dragons just followed people around here! How was I supposed to know?" Syl rolled her eyes. "Hookfang. What a stupid-"

Once again, she was cut off by another crash from outside, which he could only assume was their landing. From the sound of it, they hadn't quite been as destructive as usual - he must have really been trying. Hiccup snorted. And they thought _he_ was the Village screw-up…

After another moment of silence, Hiccup groaned, and started running up toward the gate, only to see Snotlout standing at the top, still intact, more or less.

He sauntered down to them confidently, looking at Syl as though he expected her to be proud of him for some reason.

"Snotlout," Syl growled, fists clenched. "I swear to the Gods-"

"No, no," he interrupted, putting his hands up in false sincerity. "I get it, I get it. You need your space, some privacy. All girls are like that, not that you're like all girls, of course. You're, like, a really cool guy… But a girl. Y'know what I mean. You just want some time alone." He leaned over to Hiccup, and whispered loudly enough for her to hear, "that's your cue to leave."

"Listen, Snotlout," she said his name in Astrid's voice with such perfect accuracy that even _he_ forgot who she was for a moment. "We don't have a 'relationship', no matter what you might think. It's not a 'thing', and we're definitely not a 'couple'. So I swear on Odin's own beard if I hear you say a word to _anyone_ else in the Village about how we're 'together', you won't ever be saying anything else at all. Got it?"

"But what about-"

"Shut it!" She snapped. He shrunk back a bit.

"Alright," he complied, "But just know, Astrid, if you're ever lonely… I'll be right here, waiting."

She shivered, and sneered at him as he walked further into the ring, Hookfang following behind him a moment later, huffing at Syl and making her jump.

"So… What now?" Syl asked, glancing warily around the ring.

"Exactly what I told you," Hiccup replied with a smirk, whistling for Toothless and Stormfly to come in, who were still outside. "We train dragons."

Syl's eyes widened. "W-wait… I thought we were all done 'training'. That's what the thing in the woods was, wasn't it? Not that I like them or anything, but they're not exactly attacking us anymore. I mean, you're - we're - _riding_ them, for the gods' sakes. Isn't that enough?"

Hiccup rolled his eyes as he watched Toothless and Stormfly bound happily into the arena. "There's always more we can learn from them. Plus, my Dad's put me in charge of all of this, not that I'm complaining, but…"

She frowned. "But… What about Toothless? If he's sick, shouldn't we be back at your house, trying to take care of him? And what about, y'know, _her?_ I thought the whole point of coming back here and _all of this_ " - she gestured pointedly at herself - "was to bring her back, so you can get _me_ out of here. Shouldn't you be back at the Great Hall, or whatever, looking for something?"

Hiccup sighed, seeing through her false sympathy almost immediately - she just wanted to get out away from that place as quickly as possible. "Toothless seems… Okay. Maybe Gobber was right, and it was just a fluke. It's been a long few days. He was probably just tired, maybe a bit nervous after everything that's been happening. It wouldn't be the first time. Otherwise… I don't know, but I'm going to look into it a bit with Gothi, and Fishlegs is helping us now, too. And as far as Astrid goes, you're right about one thing - I do want to find a way to… To bring her back, as soon as possible. But if I just dive into all the old books in the Great Hall right after I've gotten back with no excuse why, then people might get a bit suspicious. It's gonna be hard enough keeping this whole charade up as it is - you should know that. I don't want too many questions. Besides, I have a feeling I'm gonna need to do a bit more than flip through books in the Great Hall. I might have to ask Johann, or send out some letters… I've already looked through every book we have on dragons."

"I just thought you wanted your girlfriend back," Syl retorted with a coy smile, "Or have you decided I'm a suitable replacement?"

Hiccup's ears went red, and he growled pathetically, "T-that… Is _not_ what I said. I just… Need to keep a low profile. At least for a little while."

She sighed overdramatically, still smirking. "Oh, well, I'm just saying… I _am_ your girlfriend, now, whether you like it or not."

"We…" Hiccup squeezed his eyes shut, grimacing. "We're not… _You're_ not my… Listen, let's just get started. I have a training schedule to keep up here, and these guys… My _friends,_ here... Aren't always the most cooperative. Besides, consider it a good opportunity to catch up. You seemed to enjoy racing Stormfly back here enough."

"Fine," she sneered, "Whatever you say, _boyfriend._ Let's just get this over with."

Astrid's dexterity had improved tremendously.

Without anything else to do, and eventually needing something to distract herself from the gnawing, aching feeling in her stomach, she had grudgingly took Toothless's advice. At first it was simpler things, just walking back and forth along the beach proved to be a bit of a challenge once she focused on it, though she had become a lot more comfortable with it since she had last given it as much thought. When that bored her, she moved on to trotting, then eventually running, which she soon realized was a much more complicated task, as her legs would have to move two at a time rather than just one, like an animal's. A _real_ animal's. She abandoned the task almost as soon as she made the comparison, moving on to sidestepping and strafing, then walking again.

She only stopped when she was exhausted, because if she ever stopped for too long, she started _thinking,_ something she had come to hate even more than before she had been transformed. Thinking led to anger, and when that brought up nothing, it turned to fear - there was nothing she could hit, here. Nobody she could punch, or kick, if she could even figure out how. Perhaps if Syl had been there she could've taken it out on her, though her fight had made her unsure of whether she could even do _that,_ either. That was one of the few benefits to her worried exercise - at least she was learning how to fight and move again, albeit as a dragon.

When she was too tired and too bored to continue, she moved on to... Experimenting, as Hiccup might've called it. It was something she had been avoiding since the day she had been transformed, but the sheer concept of settling back into that dreadful abyss known as life contemplation was enough to get her to do it.

She started out with the claws - _her_ claws, as she accepted she would have to refer to them and everything else as until further notice. They were quite sharp, as she already knew, and retracted almost fully down into her paws. Upon some practice, she was able to fully extend and withdraw both quite easily, though they were almost completely unmaneuverable, and couldn't quite be used as fingers in the way she had hoped, unless she could spear whatever she wanted to pick up. They seemed to be great at grip, however - she found it almost impossible to move when she locked them into the earth, never mind if somebody tried to move _her._

Next, she moved on to her tail - she had already gotten used to its weight and presence on her rear, especially due to the soreness she felt from the stunt she had pulled a few days before. Still, she hadn't been lifting it up much, except when she was trotting and it slowed her down. She could understand how it might be important if she was trying to move silently, but until then, she was fine with simply letting it drag around in the sand behind her. Timidly, she eventually began expanding and contracting the fan-like fins on the end, as well, though the entire feeling gave her shivers, and she eventually stopped doing that, as well.

She kept doing this for a few hours, until she had explored and studied every part of her body she was comfortable with. This excluded her wings - not only was it something she still wasn't comfortable having, or _feeling,_ but they had somehow remained folded up on her back since she had crashed into the lake a few days before, and if she did figure out how to unfurl them, she wasn't sure she would know how to refold them if she wanted to.

Then she went back to exercise. This only made the aching pit in her stomach worse, but it also served as a distraction for it, if temporary. When walking didn't take her mind off of it, she switched to jumping from rock to rock over the lake, a feat she was surprised to find was very reliant upon her tail as a counterbalance. She soon found that by moving the tail either left or right midair, she could turn in midair, making her land somewhere completely different from what an onlooker or enemy might expect. Upon this discovery, Astrid decided to practice this for a few hours, until her wings began to unfold on her seventh attempt and she nearly flipped over trying to regain balance.

She looked up at the sun, expecting it to be starting its descent over the walls of the ravine, and Hiccup to come gliding down from the clouds on Toothless.

From the look of it, she had been practicing for about an hour.

She groaned. It was going to be a long, long first day.

* * *

It was late afternoon when they finally finished training. Syl had never felt more tired in her life.

It had started out quite simply - Hiccup had spent about fifteen minutes trying to get them all organized, then another fifteen answering the Twins' questions, most of which were about how close he came to death when they got lost in the storm, and some that were completely random and not relevant whatsoever. When he finally got a chance to speak, he went on some boring rant about flight control, to which the other fat kid - what was his name, Fishlegs? - constantly interrupted him to add something in, which eventually descended into them just gushing about dragon facts until he finally caught himself. Then he announced it was time to go outside.

The next two hours were the hardest of her life. She was horrified to discover that she was expected to wash and clean Stormfly's saddle, as well as re-adjust her straps and check the metal bearings to make sure they hadn't rusted and weren't pinching her anywhere. She took a lot longer than anyone else, even the twins, and Hiccup sold it off as her being grumpy and wanting to make sure she had gotten everything right, when in truth, she had absolutely no idea what she was doing.

She had never really had to _work_ before - not like this. She had more or less managed to avoid any chores as a kid, sneaking out in the morning before her mother woke up, and not returning until that night, long after she had fallen asleep. She spent most of her days in the woods, just walking around and climbing trees, thinking about random things that would probably never happen. Otherwise, she would be in town, stealing small things from whoever was foolish enough to leave their door unlocked, and doing her best to remain unseen. Not that anyone had anything valuable, of course. Even most family keepsakes - lockets, necklaces, and rings were sold off food or had been long-since destroyed during the raids, and only the useful things remained.

Of course, that was _before_ the raids had ended. _Before_ her mother had time to actually think about what her daughter was doing, and _before_ started catching her before she went out every morning. Even then, there had always seemed to be some errand, some task that Bjarke, her second-in-command whom she now had much more than a burning hatred for, would pop up at all the convenient times to tell her, letting her sneak away just as easily as before. Only this time, her mother started to notice.

And yet here she was, scrubbing the saddle of one of the beasts she had grown up hating with a soapy brush while it cooed happily at her from above. She had to smile a bit when she thought about it - in one day, she was already more of a Berkian citizen than she ever was in the place she grew up in through her entire life. Of course, she wasn't truly _herself,_ either… But that was besides the point.

Eventually, after a few failed attempts at showing her how to do it properly, Hiccup took over for her, grumbling the whole time she waited there as close as she dared to the dragon. His - and now her - friends had long since left, practicing stunts and maneuvers above them that made her jaw drop in disbelief. She inquired about it with Hiccup a few minutes later. "Do… Do you do that stuff, too?"

He glanced over at Toothless, who looked up from licking one of his paws and purred curiously. "Oh, well… Yeah. Though we do it a bit… Faster, too. It's a lot of fun, really."

She shook her head and narrowed her eyes. "Gods… You're crazier than Astrid."

"I'm crazier than _you,_ " Hiccup corrected. "By the way, _you're_ the most competitive one of the bunch, so you'd best get practicing."

With that, they took to the air, with Hiccup's only advice being that Stormfly would know what to do, and that she simply hold on tight. That she did, doing her best to suppress her screams in her arm as the dragon proceeded to do a series of aerobatic stunts that she was positive would have absolutely no use in combat whatsoever, regardless of how many times she nearly threw up.

Even so, her 'friends' still asked her why she wasn't performing great, to which she responded uneasily that she was tired and needed something to eat, and leading Hiccup to tell them that that would be it for the day. Though she was still astounded by the ridiculous stunts he pulled mid-air, even she could tell he was holding back to check on her. She felt a twinge of _something_ as the others all touched down around her, snickering as she stumbled off of Stormfly. Anger perhaps, or annoyance, though more directed towards herself than anyone else. Was she… Embarrassed? No, of course not - that made no sense at all.

With a few last notes and a promise that they would see each other again the next day, they dispersed, the twins giggling to themselves about something back at the ring, Fishlegs reading a small book he had pulled seemingly out of thin air, Snotlout practicing waving a club through the air overdramatically, and Syl stomping angrily down the hill into the Village, Hiccup and their dragons following close behind.

"Hey," He replied, catching up to her, "You didn't do that bad up there. Not that you were really doing _much,_ but, uh…" His voice trailed off. She didn't respond, still looking straight ahead.

"You know, there's nothing to be embarrassed about-"

"I'm _not_ embarrassed!" She growled, whirling on him. He flinched - obviously, Astrid's voice paired with her anger had quite the effect on him.

"I'm just," She let out a breath of air slowly, "Tired. Just tired."

Hiccup swallowed hard, nodding. They continued the rest of the walk in silence, Hiccup eventually falling back to _apologize_ to Stormfly on her behalf, for reasons she couldn't understand in the slightest.

The sky was pitch black when they returned, the village lit solely by the various braziers and torches carried and placed within it.

They continued on through the Village, marching up to the Great Hall in silence as well, only speaking when the occasional Viking nodded at them kindly or stopped shortly to welcome them back. The majority, however, were walking alongside or parallel to them, trudging up the steps to the Great Hall for the everlasting meat and fire within.

Syl's eyes widened as soon as they stepped inside, pouring over the beams and pillars, and most of all, the great golden dragon suspended above the huge table in the center where his father held his council meetings. The back of the dragon was always supplied with a heavy amount of coal and tinder and was only lit when a meeting was being held, or there was a very large amount of people in the hall. That night, there were.

Despite Syl's stormy temperament, the Vikings of Berk seemed to be in a relatively happy mood that evening. Perhaps it was Stoick's giant, oddly gleeful presence in the room that made it that way. Before the raids had ended, it was a rare sight to see his father smile, and though Hiccup had tried to make him as a kid with his occasional sarcasm and jokes, and he often did if only to please him, he eventually gave up on the attempt he knew had been futile from the beginning - his Dad just wasn't that sort of person, and probably never would be. But then he met Toothless... And everything changed. The war ended, and Berk was completely changed. His father was living proof. Stoick started smiling again, and celebrating with the other Vikings at feasts, rather than staying cooped up in their house, pouring over unfinished maps of Helheim's Gate, searching madly for the island concealed within.

But this _did_ seem to be quite a happy night, and everyone was there for one reason, and one reason only. Syl's eyes widened when she saw it, and her mouth dropped open, a small stream of drool dripping from her lip.

"Food..." she blurted hungrily.

And food it most certainly was - a huge roasted boar was laid out on the table, no doubt a trophy from what Hiccup knew would likely be one of the last large hunts of the season, with a bright red apple lodged heartily in its mouth. A thick layer of syrup coated the it, dripping down the side, leaving some parts bare, but most well covered. Aside from that, all manner of other meats and poultry lay out on the cloth covered table, sweet tarts, cakes and pies scattered around them, many with large chunks already taken out of them, some of which were obviously more grabbed than they were sliced. Creamy and crisp buttered breads and jugs spilling with sweet drinks and liquids On and on it went down the table, plate after plate of chicken, mutton and smaller slices of pork, with exotic spices from far-off lands lightly dusted over many. As many times as he had eaten there, even Hiccup's mouth watered a bit at the sight - his father had truly gone all-out.

He stepped towards the table, about to push past a few Vikings blocking the way before he noticed that Syl was still dead-still behind him. He raised an eyebrow at her. She shook her head slightly before eventually following him.

They approached the table, and Hiccup took a plate. Syl followed with a heavy gulp, her eyes still pouring ravenously over the delicacies, and she stuttered out, "W-what do we do?"

Hiccup shrugged. "Take a plate and… Grab some food, I guess. Why?"

She raised an eyebrow at him skeptically. "That's… It?"

"That's what we usually do."

"You mean…" She glanced back over the table, taking a sniff of the many aromas wafting from both the sweet and savory. "It's like this every day?"

"Well," he snickered, following her gaze, "Not really. It's usually a bit… Less, than this. I wouldn't go so far as to call this a feast, though - I'd be surprised if this alone could even feed my Dad, never mind all of Berk."

Hesitantly, she grabbed a smaller fork on the table and impaled a chicken, looking up at Hiccup as though searching for approval. He raised an eyebrow at her, and poured a jug of mead that was more honey than liquid into his mug. Taking a few slices of ham and a chicken leg, he went to find a seat in the back of the hall, leaving Syl wide-eyed still at the table.

He watched her as she worked her way around the table, taking a slice of everything, then circling around again to take another… Then another. Finally, she came to sit down with him, barely able to see over the food stacked on her plate.

"Uh," Hiccup glanced looked around the food at her doubtfully. "Are you sure you're gonna be able to eat all of that?"

She blinked, hungry eyes looking up from the cooked beef she was on the verge of digging into. "What? Y-yeah, of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well," He started, "It's just… It's a LOT of food, and-"

He looked at Syl, who was shoveling her third forkful of smoked salmon into her maw.

"And?" She asked, her mouth full. "Am ah bracking caraker, er somthin?"

"What?" Hiccup glanced around to see if anyone was listening, but everyone else in the hall seemed preoccupied with either themselves or others. The dim glow of the fire barely reached their table, as well - he doubted anybody even knew they were there.

"No, no, not at all. Just don't drink any mead," He snickered. "In fact, Astrid'd probably eat twice what you're hav-"

His eyes widened, and he jumped up, pushing the bench underneath him back slightly.

"We need to go. Now."

"Buh I thot you said we'd go afta' we ate," Syl replied, cheeks bulging with mutton.

He shook his head quickly, and pulled her up by the arm. He started dragging her towards the door before he turned back and gestured at her plate, still overflowing with food. "Bring that."

"All of it?" She asked, swallowing.

He nodded. "Yeah, and grab a few chicken legs on the way out, too. Actually, take the whole bird. Or two."

She raised an eyebrow at him, but did as she was told. He grabbed two loaves of bread, as well, and he was just able to catch a sidelong glance from his father before they were both out the door.

Toothless and Stormfly were resting next to entrance, along with the dragons of some other Vikings enjoying the meal inside. The Night Fury perked up as soon as he smelled the smoked fish, no doubt hungry as well. Hiccup frowned. "No, bud, this isn't for you. You ate earlier. I'll grab you something on the way down, but we need to go see Astrid, _now._ She hasn't had anything since… Since what happened. You dragons need a lot of food just to stay awake, and I have a feeling that transformation took a lot of energy out of her from the start. She must be half starved, at least…"

He mounted Toothless as Syl struggled to climb onto Stormfly behind her. "Do you remember how to get to the ravine?"

She nodded.

"Meet us there. Need to grab something first."

They both lifted off, Syl gripping on to Stormfly for dear life, while Toothless took Hiccup further down into the Village. They landed, and he ran inside the smith shop he had spent all too many hours in, probably looking like a proper madman as he threw paper and materials aside until he finally found it - his old personal dragon journal. He had stopped using it a few months after the war ended, when his father gave him a newer one, but it still had all of the information he had initially gathered on Night Furies in it, as well as a few empty pages in the back he had never filled out. He had meant to get it earlier, but hadn't wanted to leave Syl alone for too long.

As he rushed back out of the blacksmith, he glimpsed something rather large sagging against the side of a house. Looking a second time, he saw that it was a basket full of several day old fish. Glancing around to make sure nobody was nearby first, he walked over and heaved the basket over his shoulder. Toothless purred happily as he climbed back onto his saddle.

"I'm sure they won't mind if we borrow this for a bit, eh, bud? You can eat when we get there."

Silently, they lifted off into the night sky. The two soared over Berk and the forest beyond, Hiccup urging Toothless on as fast as he dared with the added weight. They nearly ran into Syl and Stormfly before they got there, who seemed to be flying back to meet them.

"What's wrong?" He yelled across worriedly.

"It's Astrid, she's-" she started yelling back. Hiccup didn't let her finish as they dove down into the ravine past her.

And there, on the beach, between two rocks, was Astrid, flipped on her back, flailing every limb she had anywhere she could and screeching loud enough for the gods to hear.

* * *

So maybe she had gotten a little carried away.

She had spent most of the day running through that cycle endlessly - running across the beach, experimenting with her claws, and ears, and jumping around from place to place. The more she ran and studied, the more it served as a distraction from her hunger, but the more it served as a distraction, the hungrier she became. Eventually, even that began to inevitably take its toll on her body, as she began to trip and fall more and more often, and couldn't seem to stay focused as easily anymore. At some point, she thought she remembered falling asleep, though she had been trying to avoid it, for some reason.

Finally, it had been too much. On one of her jumps between the two rocks farther back from the lake, she had lost her concentration, and let one of her wings out just a bit too much, sending her spiraling down towards the ground, snout first, and landing on her back. She couldn't remember exactly how long she had been there, but it must have been a while, as she watched the sun fall upside down on her back below the rim of the ravine. All she could truly remember was how futile her attempts at getting back up seemed, and how tired and desperately hungry she really was. And finally, to make matters even better, Hiccup, Toothless, Syl and Stormfly chose that exact moment to show up.

She closed her eyes as they both landed, not wanting to meet either of their accusing or humored stares. They would laugh at her, she knew, and she deserved it. They would laugh and cry until she was able to convince them to help her, and how was she supposed to do that? She certainly couldn't write anything from that position, and the only one she could talk to was the dragon.

Her eyes squeezed shut, she let her body go limp, no longer flailing or screeching for help in the only language she could speak, which, according to Toothless, wasn't even a language at all. She waited and waited for the inevitable snort or obnoxious giggle. Then… Nothing.

She opened her left eye just a sliver.

They weren't laughing.

Hiccup walked up to her slowly, making a wide girth around her wings, which were still stretched out to their full extent on the ground.

"Uh, hey, Astrid," he bit his lip. "Glad to see that you're still… Okay."

Great. Mockery. Classic Hiccup.

"Uh," He looked her and the ravine over, no doubt noticing the both deep and light footmarks in the sand and dirt, as well as the claw marks on the two rocks she had fallen between. "What… What happened? How exactly did this…?"

She growled, trying to tell him to flip her over before realizing how stupid it was. She sighed, and tried to rock back and forth a bit, hoping he would get the message.

"Oh! Right," He glanced over towards Toothless, who was watching her from afar. "Could you help her out a bit here, bud?"

The Night Fury padded over softly, walking around her in careful observation. Then he stopped, stepped back, and sat down.

 _"No."_

She widened her eyes at him, and growled back, _"_ _What?! Toothless, I've been here for hours! What..."_ She glared at him. _"_ _Is this it? Is this your 'revenge' for me wanting to kill you the first day we met? I thought you'd do better than that."_

She thought she saw him smirk. " _No, it isn't. I have something much better in mind for that. I just want to see you learn, Astrid."_

She snarled at him and started flailing her limbs even more violently than before, likely scaring Hiccup and Syl. She didn't care.

The dragon remained indifferent.

Whipping her head around, she looked up at her own dragon hopefully, cooing as softly as she could. She considered sending her a mind-message, as well, but remembered what had happened when she had tried that earlier and decided it was probably for the better that she didn't. Still, Stormfly refused to help, as well, going to stand beside Toothless and watch with a quiet curiosity.

Astrid decided that she hated them both.

Hiccup, seeming to understand what had happened, groaned, and muttered, "useless reptile," before going around to her side, motioning for Syl to come help.

"No," she heard her say. "I am not going _near_ her. That has not ended well for me once yet, and I doubt it's going to start now."

He sighed, shoving all of his weight against Astrid's side, to no avail. "Come on, you spent two hours just trying to wash Stormfly today. Are you really that scared of an immobile dragon?"

Astrid almost growled at her, before deciding that probably wouldn't help their cause, either.

"Fine," she agreed, "but only so she doesn't tackle me as soon as we get her back up."

They both shoved against her with all of their might, but they couldn't budge her in the slightest. She considered trying to wriggle around again to help for a moment, before remembering how easily one of her wings or legs could crush them.

Once they had stepped away, she went back to flailing again, until she became too tired to care and let her body go limp again. Suddenly, she recognized something in the air - a taste, no, a _scent_ of fresh meat and lamb, of soft cakes and tarts made by Berk's best of cooks. She dropped the thought immediately - she was just too hungry, and her senses were beginning to tempt her. Or perhaps she was able to smell the food all the way from the Village. Gods, what a tease that would be each night.

But turning her head to the side as much as she could, she saw a plate piled high with food sitting next to Stormfly, who looked as though she was dying to snap up a chicken leg resting on top, but was holding herself back for some reason. Then she realized; it was for her. Hiccup must have realized that she was hungry, and came as soon as possible to bring her some. And there it was, just out of reach, only a few feet away from her parched throat and empty maw. She sighed. Her day really couldn't get any better, could it?

For a moment, she considered asking Hiccup to put some of it into her mouth but dismissed the thought immediately. Not only would it be incredibly humiliating, but to ask him to do that would be to accept her position, and that was something she most _definitely_ was not going to do. Toothless followed her starved gaze towards the plate and smirked. She decided it would be worth a minute of her time to decide how she was going to tear the dragon to little Toothless shreds when she got out of this. First, of course, she would start with his-

 _"Fold your wings."_

The command was so sudden and abrupt that Astrid nearly jumped. He had said it in such a casual way, not even looking at her.

" _What?"_

" _You heard me,"_ he continued, " _fold your wings. They're holding you back. If you try to use them to pick yourself up, you'll only succeed in breaking them, and even that won't flip you back over. You'll need to use your tail, as well."_

" _You're a lot of help,"_ She snarled back at him. " _Why don't you just flip me back over yourself?"_

" _I can't."_

" _Very funny,"_ she replied with a snort. " _I heard you carried me all the way to that cave on the other side of the island. Don't pretend you're so weak."_

" _First of all, Stormfly helped me, and secondly, we really can't. There's no way to flip you back over right now. Not without breaking one of your wings."_

She mustered the most rebellious look she could while flipped on her back. " _I don't care about breaking a wing. Hiccup's trying to change me back, anyway, so they won't even be there."_

" _You will later on. Broken wings never heal, and from what I've heard, that'll hurt like nothing you've ever felt before. My tailfin alone still aches oftentimes, and it's been years since… That."_

She frowned. " _Well… I don't know how."_

" _Yes, you do,"_ he corrected. " _You just don't want to."_

She didn't respond, trying to look away from him as much as she could, which probably appeared pretty ridiculous.

" _It's just like your tail, or anything else. Another limb. I know you can feel it, Astrid, and you can control them, too. I'm not asking you to fly. Just pull them in towards your body."_

She sighed. " _It's… Different though. Other things don't just… Fold up, all properly like that, and nothing else. They're too… Limited."_

Toothless snorted. " _If you ever really take to the air, you might not think they're quite so 'limited' anymore."_

There was another moment of silence. She saw Hiccup observing the two of them patiently near Stormfly. Syl looked around the ravine, probably trying to act as though she wasn't paying attention, even though she would glance back at them skeptically every few seconds.

" _Or,"_ the dragon continued slyly, " _We could just leave you here. You could spend many moons just lying here, withering away. How does that sound to you? An eternity to just sit here and THINK. No more running, or jumping, or climbing. You could just sit here for months, weeks, growing lazy and WEAK. Time to think about your life, how you could spend the rest of it down here, doing nothing but lying on your back as Hiccup dangles chicken above your m-"_

" _Fine!"_ She snapped. " _I'm gonna kill you as soon as I get back up, though."_

Grudgingly, she opened up her senses, finally giving in somewhat to the weight of the wings on her back.

 _Just a limb. Like hands,_ she tried to convince herself, _like really, really big hands._

And so, she… _Felt,_ them. It was similar to her tail, though she could easily tell how right she was about their flexibility - they only really went two ways, no matter what Toothless said. Still, to have two _more limbs…_ It was strange, to say the least.

So she let herself relax a bit, before tensing up almost immediately. They just kept _going!_ At least with her tail, she felt its end as soon as she expected to, but these were just _huge._ Link after link of skeletal joints all woven to create two perfect extensions of her body, as wide as she was long. But more than anything, powerful, _flexible._ Not as weapons - no, these served a different purpose, though they could be just as deadly nonetheless…

She blinked. She didn't have time to think about these things. Of course, that was a blatant lie, as she knew that she would probably spend hours after they left just sitting there, _feeling_ them, thinking about what she could do with them if she… If she…

No. She was drifting off again - she'd been spending too much time around Hiccup, and unfortunately begun to pick up his habit of random, blanked-out daydreaming. Maybe some time away from him would do her some good…

Slowly, she started with the tips, finding that each space between the veins and limbs in each wing could be retracted and expanded, greatly changing the space they covered. So she folded in the tips… Then the membrane beyond those… Then the next segment…. Then the next… And so on until she realized they had all contracted as much as she could possibly make them. Still, they jutted out annoyingly from underneath her and onto the ground beside her. The small protrusions she would have to fold against her side from there would have to wait, as they were still being crushed under the weight of her entire upper half on the ground, and didn't seem to have the strength to lift her entire body up.

" _Good,"_ Toothless coached, " _but a bit slow. It might be fine for right now. But if you ever see some real action and get flipped over, you'd be long since dead by now."_

Gobber's old favorite saying returned to her suddenly, and she grimaced. _A downed dragon is a dead dragon._ And that was all she was, at the moment - a downed dragon in the woods. It was the sad truth…

 _No._ That wasn't true - Hiccup had proven it to both her and the rest of Berk. But she doubted he could make anything for her to wear that would just flip her over. But perhaps she could ask him later… It would probably look ridiculous, anyway.

Besides that, there was another reason she didn't care all that much.

" _I'm never going into real combat in this… Body,"_ she reminded him.

" _You just did yesterday, remember?"_ he shot back.

" _That was… Different. Not real bloodshed, just blunt hits and tackles."_

He frowned. " _That may be so, but I had hoped it would prove to you just how much your style will have to change. From what you told us, you never even heard her coming. If even your senses are off… Maybe that's something else you should be practicing."_

He padded around her, observing her situation as she looked for a way to get up. " _I have to say, though, you've made quite a lot of progress. Many hatchlings will spend weeks with their mother, barely doing much more than crawling. Yet you've nearly mastered walking, and you're already jumping just a few days after becoming one of us."_

" _I haven't become one of… You."_ She snapped back quickly. " _And I don't need your petty compliments. I've only been 'practicing' because there's nothing else to do down here. Don't you dare think I'm actually curious. Now… What do I do next?"_

Toothless sighed. " _Use your tail to propel yourself back over. You should try rocking back and forth, too. I think you'll find it's a lot easier now that your wings are folded in."_

Reluctantly, she did as he instructed, finding that it _was_ much easier to rock herself back and forth than it was before. Angling her tail to the side, she pushed down with as much force as she possibly could in time with rocking herself in the same direction. With a slight yelp that she was barely able to suppress, she was on her side, and she quickly continued the motion, afraid she would fall back again and landed upright on her feet. She heard a small, dainty gasp from behind her as she grunted. She couldn't tell if it was Hiccup or Syl for the life of her.

"Well, that was… Weird," Hiccup announced after a pause. Obviously looking to change the subject, he quickly blurted, "I brought dinner!"

He blushed when Astrid glanced over at him. "Well, I… It's not really… Mine, ah… I mean to say that I didn't really bring it, but… I did bring some for Toothless, uh…"

He glanced back at an old, wet basket sagging heavily to the side on the ground where they had landed, then at Syl's plate of food, which she had placed carefully in a quickly-made sand mold on the beach to keep it from falling over. The girl's mouth dropped open in disbelief when she realized what he was implying.

"What?! You asked me to bring _my food_ just for _her_ to eat? I barely took a bite out of that! Is this some kind of sick joke?"

Hiccup winced. "Well… She hasn't eaten in days…"

"Neither have I!" Syl retorted.

"You just ate a few minutes ago! It's probably a good thing I stopped you, really. Not sure your frame could support all of that… Anyway, we can get some more when we go back. I'm sure there'll be something left there. And Astrid's… Well, she needs more food now, alright?"

Syl glared at him in response. He sighed. "Astrid?"

 **THANKS HICCUP**

"You're welcome," he replied with a weary smile. Syl rolled her eyes behind him.

After another short argument with Syl, Hiccup managed to convince her that she was far hungrier and more tired than she was, leaving her to simply glare at him. Despite all his flaws, Hiccup's persuasion skills were something that would always continue to surprise Astrid. He was the first Viking she knew who could truly make someone change their mind without any brute force or intimidation needed - it was remarkable. Of course, having a giant, black, fire-spitting dragon of legend around during his squabbles probably didn't hurt, either.

He carefully placed the plate of food on the ground in front of her, then tipped over Toothless's basket with his foot a few feet away, the fish each landing on the ground with a moist _SLOOSH._

Astrid looked down at the food, still somehow warm even then, and then back up at him. He blushed. "I… I know you probably have a… A bigger appetite, now, but I thought that at least some food-"

" _My_ food," Syl grumbled.

"-Syl's food would do for now."

Astrid looked the girl in the eyes.

 **THANK YOU**

Syl seemed surprised for a moment but quickly recovered, narrowing her eyes.

"Is that sarcasm? 'Cause you're gonna have to be a bit clearer."

She shook her head.

 **SACRIFICING YOUR FOOD MEANS A LOT ON BERK**

 **BOTH FOR DRAGONS AND HUMANS**

 **YOU'RE KEEPING ME ALIVE WITH THIS TOO,**

 **DRAGON OR NOT.**

"Yeah, well, it wasn't exactly willingly," she mumbled, "But you're welcome."

She looked back down at the food and blinked. A thought that hadn't occurred to her popped into her mind.

How was she supposed to eat it?

Her claws, she realized, were filthy from running around the ravine all day. Not that she cared about her nails, but she would normally at least make sure they weren't too grimy before she ate. Yet here, it would appear as though they would have to serve as her fingers, claws, fork and knife all at once. Unless, of course… No, that was the last resort.

She glanced up at Hiccup for help. He sighed, seeming to understand. "I don't know… I could always just… Spoon feed it to you, I guess. Just put it in your mouth, or…"

She shook her head quickly. That would be far too embarrassing, and she almost hated him for just bringing up the concept, though she knew it was probably one of the most valid options she had. She looked back down at the plate and groaned.

" _Just eat it."_ Toothless sighed, padding over to his own feast.

" _It's not that simple."_

" _Yes, it is,"_ he replied. " _Your instincts know what to do. You're shaking from hunger, Astrid. Did you notice that? If you don't try soon then your instincts WILL take over for you, and your head will be half deep in that before you know it. Do you really want them to see you like that?"_

She frowned. She had a feeling he was bluffing. After all, she had been near starving before without her body taking over when she saw food, yet it could always have been some weird dragon thing…

She shook her head at him and laid down. " _I hate you."_

" _I'm trying to be nice, here,"_ he replied, slurping down a whole salmon, " _you could always come over here and try some of this. It's a lot easier to swallow, and the taste…"_ He purred as the small lump of raw fish traveled down his throat.

She shivered, turning back to her plate. As delicately as a dragon could, she released her talons, attempting to pick up a piece of sliced pork. Though the attempt was successful at first, she dropped it a few inches before it reached her mouth, and she realized another major flaw of the plan. Her arms - no, _legs_ \- weren't made to bend up toward her head. She could still bend them back somewhat, but it was clumsy and awkward, and they wouldn't reach her mouth, anyway.

Grumbling, she looked back at her claw and tried to wipe it on a small stone lying nearby, with little success. Still, she pierced the slice of ham, once again attempting to bring it up to her mouth, but still falling short.

She sighed and glanced up at Syl and Hiccup. They appeared to be talking to one another about something, annoying Astrid but still saving her the embarrassment of failing at supper, of all things.

Checking one last time to make sure nobody was watching, she leaned down, and slowly, tenderly, licked the top of the slice of ham.

It tasted… Bland. Rather disappointing, really, especially considering the incredible scent she had been tortured with since they landed. Regardless, she dipped her head back down to the plate - it was food, and that was what mattered. She picked it up with her mouth, and swallowed, then moved on to the next, then the next, finding that she didn't even have to chew most of the time, but being careful nonetheless. Still, she began to go faster, and faster, slurping and biting up food quietly at first, then savagely as she searched for something, _anything_ to sate her taste buds, yet the more she ate, the hungrier she became, until… Yes, _yes!_ That was something! She couldn't quite tell what the flavor was, but _something_ was there! Perhaps a sweet tart, or some chicken… She didn't care. She closed her eyes, savoring it, and then dove into it. It tasted _amazing!_ She felt as though she could sit there and eat whatever it was forever, yet... Something was off. Perhaps it was the fact that she had been able to _dive_ into it, or how the ravine had grown eerily quiet was what set her off. After a moment, still savoring the taste of that _excellent something_ in her mouth, she bothered to open her eyes.

She looked around. Syl and Hiccup were both staring at her, slack-jawed. Turning her head, she saw that Toothless was deadly still, as well, standing right next to her. When had _that_ happened?

" _Astrid…"_ He said with concern. Underneath, however, she could almost detect a hint of smugness, for some reason.

She looked down.

She was buried snout-deep in Toothless's pile of fish.

The silence was deathly as she realized what had happened.

" _I tried to warn y-"_

" _SHUT UP!"_ She screeched.

She spat in horrified disgust, feeling the sticky goop that covered the fish coating her entire mouth and throat. Desperately, she whirled her tongue around her mouth, trying to get the stickiness off as much as she could. But it didn't really feel _bad…_ And it tasted quite _good…_

She shook her head. No, this was a mistake. She did not _like_ raw fish. Raw, _rotten_ fish, she remembered, thinking back to the muck that had spilled out of the old basket Hiccup had brought. The muck that was _in her mouth at that moment!_

She darted to the lake, dunking her entire head in and letting it fill with water. Keeping it there until she grew afraid she might run out of air, she pulled it back up, and spat again, then again, then again. Still growling, she walked back over to the four of them, who were still frozen in place.

"Are…" Syl started, breaking the silence, "are you sure she's your girlfriend? And not just some dragon you found in the woods that's pretending to be your girlfriend?"

"Y-yes," Hiccup replied, though she heard the slightest bit of trepidation and a whole lot of fear in his voice.

"Are you sure she didn't _eat_ your girlfriend?" Syl retorted, taking a step back.

"Yes, I'm sure!" He replied confidently, before frowning. "Uh, right, Astrid?"

She rolled her eyes. He glanced toward Toothless, who looked at him, then Astrid, then back at him, and nodded quickly.

Syl sighed. "Because I'm really starting to think-"

 **I AM ASTRID!**

Astrid wrote as furiously as she possibly could.

Syl frowned. "That sounds like something a dragon who's _not_ Astrid would say."

She groaned, as did Hiccup.

"I think Astrid's just a bit tired, Syl. She still needs some rest. Especially since she just… Uh… _Ate…_ Bad choice of words."

Astrid grumbled in agreement.

"Listen, Syl, could you just leave us alone for a while?" He asked.

She raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? What if she tries to eat _you,_ too-"

 **I JUST ATE A FISH OR TWO**

 **IT WAS A MISTAKE**

 **AND ALL THE MORE REASON**

 **FOR YOU TO LEAVE.**

 **NOTHING IS WRONG WITH ME**

 **AND YOU'RE BLOWING THIS**

 **OUT OF PROPORTION.**

Hiccup nodded. "This is ridiculous. Syl, just meet me back in the Great Hall, alright? Tell them I forgot to feed Toothless or something, and that we went out for a flight, if they ask. Get some food for yourself."

"Really?" Syl asked, eyes brightening slightly. "I'll see you two weirdos later, then. Don't eat him, alright, 'Astrid'? He's my main source of food right now, and yours too. Though in a different way."

With that, she quickly hopped on Stormfly, and they were off into the night sky, towards the village, leaving the three of them alone in the dark ravine. It was a while before Hiccup spoke out.

"So, uh… That was a bit… Um…"

 **IT NEVER HAPPENED**

"Right, right," he replied swiftly. "But, I mean, you seemed to be enjoying yourself… At least a little. Do… Do you want me to bring you fish from now on? It might have something to do with their diet… It's definitely not _you,_ I know that. Well, not that you don't like, uh, rotten fish, but... " His voice trailed off.

She began to shake her head, before taking a moment to think. It wouldn't be _so bad._ Maybe Hiccup was right about their diet. She had never seen Toothless eat anything _but_ fish, come to think of it. Maybe anything else would make them sick… Which meant she could _only_ eat those sweet, slippery…

 _No._ Just before she nodded, she restrained herself. This was crazy! If the Astrid from a week before had seen her even _contemplating_ this now, even as a dragon, she would've called her feral and mad. She shook her head.

"Well, then, there is something else… Toothless?" The dragon's ears perked up at his name. "Do you, uh, want to tell us something, bud? Or tell Astrid something?" Hiccup frowned, probably thinking about how he never thought he would have to ask that question.

The dragon shrugged innocently.

" _Pretty sure he means the whole 'going completely blank mid-flight' thing there, Toothless,"_ She prompted.

His eyes widened in mock remembrance. " _Oh, that. It was nothing. I was really tired. It was just…"_ He smiled, " _a_ _little Hiccup."_

She frowned and turned to Hiccup, shaking her head. He sighed and walked over to her, leaning his face down into her ear.

"He did it again when we were heading back this morning, but it was… Different," he whispered, "We had landed, and he seemed to blank out again. Syl was off in the woods, and so I went to get her, but when I came back he was… In pain. Something wrong with his head, it looked like, but I couldn't tell what happened."

She looked back over at the Night Fury, who was trying to avert his gaze as calmly as he could.

" _Toothless, he said you looked like you were in pain. Is that ri-"_

" _I told you I was tired!"_ He snapped back with a growl, recoiling a bit at her surprised expression. " _And I had an… Itch."_

" _An… Itch?"_

" _Yes,"_ he replied, " _An itch. It was on my head, and I just... couldn't quite reach it."_

She frowned again. He had spoken - or thought - confidently, though she could still sense a hint of uneasiness underneath his sound resilience. Still, she decided not to press him any further for the moment - it probably wasn't a great idea to press an angry Night Fury, anyway - and turned to Hiccup.

 **HE SAID HE HAD AN ITCH**

Hiccup raised an eyebrow. "An-"

 **AN ITCH**

She wrote, giving him a look that told him that it was definitely _not_ an itch, but that he shouldn't go any further. Sighing, he pulled his notebook from one of his pockets and jotted something down quickly.

"Moving on, then," he continued after an awkward silence. "I know you don't remember much of what happened, and Toothless was bound up in that bola Syl set, but… I was wondering if there was anything else you might be able to tell me about the transformation? We haven't had too many free moments yet, and I thought it might be a good time…"

 **IT BURNED**

"Burned?" He asked. "Like… Fire?"

She nodded slowly.

 **IT BURNED**

 **BUT IT BURNED FROM THE INSIDE**

 **IT FELT MORE LIKE**

 **SOMETHING WAS COMING OUT OF MY SKIN**

 **THAN IT WAS OUTSIDE.**

 **THAT'S WHEN THE SCALES STARTED POPPING OUT**

He nodded, anxiously scribbling in his notebook.

 **THEN WHEN THE SCALES WERE DONE**

 **MY BODY STARTED TO CHANGE**

 **I HEARD TOOTHLESS** SCREAMING

 **AND THUNDER AND LIGHTNING**

 **LIKE ONLY THOR HIMSELF**

 **MUST HAVE SUMMONED.**

 **I THINK THERE WAS A PUDDLE**

 **OR A POND, OR SOMETHING**

 **BUT I REMEMBER LOOKING IN**

 **AND SEEING MY FACE**

 **THEN I PASSED OUT.**

He nodded, eyes still glued to his notes. "Do you remember what happened around when the acid was dropped on you? I haven't gotten a chance to ask Syl about it much yet, but she told me earlier that it wasn't anything that special. Not special enough to turn anybody into a dragon, anyway. But she could always be lying."

Astrid nodded. There was no way in _hell_ she would ever trust that girl. The only reason she hadn't killed her already was because she had seen the lengths Hiccup had gone through to impress _his_ father, and even _he_ hadn't been willing to kill anybody, well, anybody but a dragon. That also raised the question, if Hiccup had been there to pick up the shield and have the acid dumped on his head instead, would he have turned into a Night Fury? What if it had killed him, or worse? If that was the case, she would've put herself in his place in a heartbeat.

 **THERE WAS THE SHIELD**

 **THAT I PICKED UP**

 **THE ACID POURED DOWN ON ME**

 **MOST OF IT MISSED MY HEAD**

 **BUT IT WAS BURNING THROUGH**

 **MY ARMOR QUICKLY**

 **I FELT IT ON MY SKIN FOR A MOMENT**

 **AND THEN IT JUST**

 **CHANGED.**

He nodded slowly. "Does Toothless remember anything?"

The dragon frowned.

" _That girl made it so that I would watch you - or Hiccup - burn, I know it. Still, I was trying to get out of that cursed thing most of the time, so I wasn't paying too much attention. I could tell something was happening to you, though. I just didn't want you to die. I heard some screeching, and when I finally got out, I just saw one of the blood lying there. I thought you were dead or eaten. We… We don't eat humans, not purposefully, no matter what that girl says. But sometimes in a bad spot, we can bite, and snap, and… It has been known to happen. I thought that maybe that dragon had… I saw your furs and metals torn up..."_

He frowned, and his eyes grew still in deep thought. Astrid recited what he had said to Hiccup.

"I'm…" Hiccup began after a pause, "I'm sorry you had to go through that. Both of you, I… It was my fault. We work better as a team, and if I hadn't told you to leave, maybe…"

Toothless purred in understanding, walked up to him and started licking his face. After a moment of trepidation, she said "screw it" and started licking him, too. It was kind of funny - not quite as personal as kissing, but still warm and sympathetic. Hiccup giggled and pushed them both away after a moment.

"Alright, alright! I'm just glad you're both okay." He leaned in, and spread his skinny arms around both of their necks, pulling them both in towards him. They all stayed there like that for a moment, enjoying those few seconds of peace and happiness, none of them really wanting to pull away. It was Hiccup who finally did.

"Well, I guess we should probably head back, now. Sleep tight, Astrid. I'll… I'll see you in the morning."

He said it with enthusiasm, but they all knew the darker meaning behind it - if Syl left in the morning, that was it. They would have to reveal their plan and what Astrid had become. They could only pray that wouldn't be the case.

A few more goodbyes from Hiccup, as well as a few questions, and Hiccup climbed on Toothless to leave. Just before they did, however, Astrid yelled out " _Wait!"_

Toothless turned around to see her dash away into the woods. She returned a moment later with a few twigs in her mouth. She let them fall to the ground in front of him. She had been careful to carry them with her teeth, so as not to wet them with her tongue.

Toothless breathed a small stream of fire at it through his tongue, making one of the twigs burst into flame, and soon lighting the others.

" _Thank you,"_ she replied.

He only nodded in response.

" _Toothless,"_ She said as he turned back toward the village, " _take care of yourself, alright?"_

" _I…"_ He started, obviously, a bit surprised, " _I will."_

They took off, and Astrid was alone with her small fire.

The way Hiccup had talked about Toothless… The dragon had been sick before, and he had worried and worried and did everything he could until he was well again. Sometimes he would even make himself sick in the process, not eat or sleep for days as he stayed by his side. Toothless rarely left his, either, when he got a cold. Yet this time… He sounded truly desperate.

She stared into the flames until something shiny beyond them caught her eye. Lifting her head up, she saw that a small pile of fish still lay beyond the pile of twigs.

She frowned.

 _Maybe it wouldn't hurt…_


	14. The Choice

**Hello, everybody!**

 **I'm sorry that this chapter came out a bit late as well - my birthday was last week, and I've had a lot on my mind of late, as well. I have a few vacations coming up, however, so I'll hopefully be able to get some writing done then.**

 **One quick note I wanted to mention - I'm aware that I use "The Green Death" in this story to refer to the giant dragon Hiccup and Toothless defeated at the end of the first movie, and that it's actually the name of the dragon from the books. Technically, it is supposed to be the "Red Death", as that was the name** _ **kind of**_ **assigned to it in the movie. But since it was never** _ **formally**_ **acknowledged in the film, and I thought personally the dragon was leaning more toward a green hue than red (even if the color in the name is supposed to be symbolic), I've simply chosen to use that name for it, instead. There's no intended cameo or crossover reference to the book there, just to clear that up.**

 **Aside from that, I hope you all enjoy this chapter! I know this has been a very stretched out "day" - or few days - in the story, but I promise that the pace will pick up soon. Thank you all, and be sure to follow this story for updates and leave a review!**

 **I don't own How to Train Your Dragon.**

* * *

Syl strode out of the Main Hall with her plate as quickly as she could, avoiding the eyes that she knew were piercing into her back and trying to forget the awkward confrontation she had just been put through.

More than anything she had wanted to sink her head down and hide in the shadows when she walked in. It was what she had always done in the few public places she was forced to go to, yet she knew it wouldn't be the case here. Astrid's personality was too bold, too haughty - she had learned that quickly enough. So she held her head high and waltzed into the Hall as confidently as she could, having regained her balance after getting off Stormfly before she went in. She wasn't Syl, the outcast, broken Chief's daughter who everyone knew stole from them but nobody dared to speak out about. Here, she was Astrid, the cocky, headstrong warrior-girl who wasn't afraid of anybody. Of course, Syl wasn't really afraid of anybody. Not anymore, at least…

Despite her sudden determination **,** the Hall still quieted some when she walked in, the only ones still laughing raucously being those hopelessly drunk on the outer edges of the Hall. Still, she tried not to make eye contact, marching up to the analyze the feast to distract her from the roaring sound in her ears, and… Was that her heartbeat? It couldn't be. It was way too fast.

She was quite disappointed to find that Hiccup was right. The majority of the food was picked over, leaving only a few crumbs, thin slices of fatty meat and the end loaves of bread left. Still, she circled the table several times over, picking the best of what she could find before circling again. She had been scavenging in people's houses and the woods back home for as long as she could remember - this was child's play.

Hearing footsteps behind her, her entire body went rigid.

 _Please don't talk to me,_ she thought, _Please don't talk to me please don't talk to me please-_

"Astrid?" Hiccup's father's booming voice asked from behind her. She winced, and sighed internally. Maybe she should've just killed Hiccup when she had the chance.

She whirled around as firmly as she possibly could.

"Hey… Chief," the words felt strange as they seeped out of her teeth. She had never called anyone _Chief_ before, at least not to their face. She hated to let people think they had authority over her - it tended to give them enough confidence to think they could make her do things she didn't want to.

 _But Astrid's a girl of honor,_ she reminded herself, _and I need to put on a show._

He looked around awkwardly, as though expecting to find some new feature in the Hall he had somehow never noticed before. "Ah, where's Hiccup?"

"H-he's, uh," she frowned. Astrid wouldn't stutter, she remembered. Calm, confident and hot-headed, that was all she needed to be.

"He went out for a flight with Toothless," she proclaimed, "he'll be back in a little while. He told me to, ah, get some more food…"

Stoick raised an eyebrow. "And the food you brought with you?"

"Well... Stormfly likes chicken. It helps her performance," Syl replied, suddenly remembering something either Astrid or Hiccup had told her earlier.

"So he thought it would be a good idea to bring some other things for her to try," she finished, feeling quite proud of herself for coming up with it so quickly.

Stoick still seemed skeptical, if a bit more relaxed. He was obviously accustomed to his son doing strange things. "Alright, well… Tell him to come see me when he gets back. I need to speak with him about... Something. And get some rest, Astrid. You look tired."

She nodded curtly. "Yes… Sir."

With one last puzzled smile, he left her standing there with her plate, going to join a few others he had been joking with toward the back of the hall. She left as soon as she could, her plate in hand.

Leaning back against the side of the building for support as soon as she had gotten outside, Syl breathed a sigh of relief. The most terrifying experience she'd had that day hadn't been soaring a mile high in the air or facing off against the very offspring of lightning and death itself, she realized. It had been talking with one of her own kind.

Grumbling, she waited there and watched the night sky in silence, until a black figure came swooping down from the sky, startling her at first before she remembered that she wasn't supposed to be scared of him anymore. As if _that_ was going to happen anytime soon.

Hiccup hopped off once they touched down, and walked over to her, taking note of the closed doors behind her and the plate of food.

"Did they ask you where we went?"

She nodded. "I told them you wanted to go for a flight, and that we brought the food along for Stormfly to eat because you thought other foods might go well with her instead of chicken."

Hiccup's eyes widened in surprise. "You... Did you tell them that? That's… Actually pretty smart!"

She narrowed her eyes sharply. "You're saying I'm not usually that smart?"

"Wh-what? No, no," he replied quickly, before noticing her smirk. He groaned. "Gods, you have Astrid's temper down to a point, don't you?"

She shrugged. "I try."

They stood there in silence for a moment, looking back out over the village. A few plumes of smoke rose from houses - the nights were getting colder, sooner. Frost would no doubt coat the grass, fields, and buildings in the mornings to come. And Astrid would still be in the ravine…

"Your Dad wants to see you," Syl blurted, interrupting the short moment of tranquility as she remembered his request. "He, uh… He said he needed to talk to you about something."

Hiccup sighed. "Great. That's _definitely_ a good sign."

He looked around quickly, before turning back to her. "Meet me back at your house. I'll be there in a few minutes… Probably."

He disappeared into the Great Hall, leaving her alone with the two dragons on the small platform. She started walking down the steps to take her bag off the Nadder, before she leaped into the air in front of her, sending a great gust of wind down in front of the hall and knocking her off her feet.

"Damned dragon…" She cursed, watching the Nadder glide over the village, before swooping down and landing around where she remembered Astrid's house was.

Brushing herself off for a moment, she glared at the spot it had touched down for a moment, as though expecting it to rise up again just to taunt her. It didn't. Suddenly remembering the Night Fury, she turned to it expectantly. "Well? Go."

But he only cooed softly, and held up his tailfin, as if trying to tell her something.

"What… Oh," she realized. "You can't fly, can you?"

The dragon lowered his head in shame, looking up at her through pine-green eyes that dripped with mourning, sorrow and compassion, just so _full_ of perception and emotion, of understanding...

She snorted after a moment. "Must suck to be you, then. See ya'."

Then she turned around and headed down into the village.

But as she reached the bottom of the steps, she heard nails clicking on stone, and saw that Toothless was clumsily making his way down the steps a safe distance behind her. She groaned to herself as she reached the bottom.

"Alright, _dragon._ Your… Nest, is right there. Now go. _Shoo._ "

The Night Fury tilted his head to the side innocently, and looked at the dark house, then back at her. Rumbling happily, he trotted over to her.

"No," she scolded. "There. House. See?"

She pointed back at the building, but this time he only shook his head. He stared up into her eyes, and she swallowed hard.

"Fine, you can… Follow me, or whatever. Just… Don't get too close."

The dragon didn't seem to understand the last part, as he happily bounded up to her side, nearly rubbing himself against her like a cat before she sprung away.

"I said _don't get too close!"_ She yelled.

The dragon looked up at her with wide eyes, as though he didn't quite understand. But Syl had practically seen he and Hiccup have conversations with him just that day alone, and Astrid seemed to be able to get something out of him - he was definitely faking it. Although he didn't really seem to be _mocking_ her…

She nearly jumped as she heard a sudden noise behind her. She tried to turn around but was almost thrown to the side by Toothless barreling past her to growl at something hiding in the shadows between two houses. She only just saw a tiny Terrible Terror rush out into the main square, darting up the hill towards the Hall and squeaking in fear.

She heard another growl from behind her and turned to see Toothless snarling at the disappearing dragon.

"Oh…" She inquired, "You're trying to… Protect me?"

The dragon looked back up at her and smiled stupidly. She shook her head in sheer disbelief.

"Dragon trying to protect me… Gods, if my mom could see me now… Or if _he_ could…" She frowned. No, she _refused_ to let him pop up in her mind again. She'd had enough problems of her own to worry about lately, and _he_ was… Gone. It wasn't like she knew him that well, anyway… She had only been six when he… When he…

Shaking her head, she traipsed down the path, the dragon still following behind her.

Her house was dark when she arrived, along with many of the others nearby. At least, she thought it was _her_ house. Either _her_ parents were already asleep inside, or still somewhere else in the village. Regardless, she seemed to be alone, aside from, of course, the dragon.

He looked to the house, then to her, then to Stormfly, who was lying in a shed-like structure next to the house with an open front, already fast asleep. Then, yawning, he sat down right in front of her.

"Ugh," Syl drawled, glaring daggers at him, "he wonders why I hate dragons. If you're not all trying to kill me, you're annoying me to death."

He cocked his head innocently and purred at her.

"Oh, you know _damn well_ what I said," she retorted. "I know you can understand me, along with the rest of your kind. You… _Monsters_ killed us for years, and _you_ were lucky enough to be shot down by the first Viking who didn't know any better than to kill you on the spot."

Rolling his eyes, the dragon started to get up, but before he could take a step toward her, she had quickly disappeared into the house, slamming the door shut behind her.

She sighed, taking a moment to observe what she could of the dark room. It was similar enough to the layout of Hiccup's house if a bit smaller. The same cold fire pit sat in the middle, and a small kitchen was out back, as well as _her_ parents' room, but the small staircase wound up along the front wall, and the upper room - _her_ room, she realized - was completely cut off. Another strange thing about the home was just how _old_ it felt. Not like the Great Hall _old,_ but still much older than any of the houses in her own village, as well as many of the others she had seen in Berk. It seemed… Settled, as though it had had many years and many winters to adjust to the frost in the ground, as well as all the other elements.

Curiously, she began to walk up the steps, before a muffled voice spoke from somewhere behind her. There was a quick, timid rapping on the front door, and she groaned, trudging back down.

"Astrid? Are you in there?" She was able to make out. She winced, still not used to her "new" name. It just didn't feel right. Then again, neither did "Syl", at first, but she had gotten used to that in time.

She moved toward the handle, before hesitating just inches away. There was silence for a moment.

"If Toothless was bothering you, I'm sure he wants to apologize," He continued.

 _As if,_ she thought. But despite herself, she opened the door. Hiccup walked in carefully, Toothless sticking his head in behind him.

He looked around the room shyly for a moment, before glancing back at her. "So, uh… I guess this is your house… For tonight, anyway."

She nodded quickly, trying to avoid the question she knew was inevitable for as long as she could. "Yeah, I guess. What did the Ch- I mean your Dad, want?"

"Oh," he seemed surprised for a moment. "It was… Nothing. Well, I'll tell you about it tomorrow. That is, if…"

He looked down quickly, cheeks flushed.

Frowning, she sharply motioned toward the door. "You should probably get going. It's been a long day."

He turned and marched out the door past Toothless, his instincts telling him to get out of the awkward conversation as soon as possible. No doubt Astrid's voice unnerved him as well - from what she had seen, that girl could make him shrink into the palm of her hand without a single word. She couldn't imagine how he acted around her when she _could_ speak. Maybe this was a good example.

As if solely to contrast her ambitions, and seeming to muster up some courage as he stepped outside, he glanced around to see if anyone was watching. Then he turned back to her.

"Syl… I need an answer."

In that moment, when he spoke through his shrill, nasally voice, she saw someone… Else. Not the scrawny boy that was nearly disowned from his entire tribe at birth that nobody listened to. He was strong, but not forbearing. Powerful, but still not quite a Viking. It was a different kind of strength, as well - there was no real reason to listen to him or answer him. There was obviously nothing he had to threaten her with, and yet she simply felt _compelled_ to heed his words. Maybe _this_ was the great Night Fury rider she had heard about. Maybe _this_ was the legendary boy who had tamed a dragon. Maybe _this_ was the boy - no, the _leader,_ \- who had convinced an entire Village to turn their backs on the past, make peace with their enemies, and see a new way of life…

Or maybe they were all just a bunch of idiots. Regardless, it was a side of him she had never seen before, and one that she had a feeling was quite a rare sight. It was a bit refreshing. A bit familiar.

"Are…" He took a deep breath. "Are you _staying,_ or not?"

She sighed, and thought about her response for only a moment. "You'll find out soon enough."

"But wait-" He started. But she had already slammed the door in his face.

She stood there for a moment, listening. There was silence, and then, muffled but audible, "Well, bud, I don't know how you're dealing with Astrid as she is. I stand by my opinion that girls are impossible, in every sense of the word. I guess we'd better go home. We'll… We'll know one way or another in the morning."

* * *

She was running.

She had heard her father coming before he even reached the house, cursing up a storm and chucking the bottle at some poor neighbor's house nearby. The shatter of the glass was what made her jump, and before she knew it, she was out the back door. She was never sure what would stir his temper - a large number of casualties at a dragon raid, a loss of their food supply just a month before the first blizzard hit, or he just found some liquor that day. There always seemed to be something.

And so she ran, her mother simply _vanished,_ and her brother… Her brother stayed behind, likely to take the worst of the punishment, as always.

Twigs and sharp rocks scraped against her small feet and thighs. She hadn't had time to put her shoes on, and they were too worn to make much of a difference, anyway. She didn't care - she knew she could find some herbs to fix it later, perhaps with a salve or paste. She just needed to go, to _run._ To escape. She imagined that her father was right behind her, crashing wildly through the trees like one of the dragons that haunted her nightmares, screeching, clawing and biting. So she kept running, and running, until-

 _There._ A gnarled tree stood solidly in the woods, limbs beckoning like a ladder for her to climb. She obliged, pulling herself up into its embrace, higher, and higher until the rushing feeling left her ears, and she could no longer feel her heart pounding in her chest. Only then did she look down.

Either it looked higher than it was, or she had climbed a very, very long way up. It didn't matter. She wouldn't be going down anytime soon, and she wasn't afraid of heights, anyway. Taking a deep breath, she looked up to the stars, trying to forget the troubles of the world. She wondered what the Gods were doing up there, feasting in Valhalla with the heroes and warriors of old, perhaps? She wondered if she would ever go there. She hated fighting, but did that make her a coward? A weakling? Would she have to die in battle to go to them? Wasn't there anything else she could do?

She pondered these questions for a few minutes, then half an hour, then an hour. The moon was a quarter of the way across the sky before she heard a voice calling out from down below. It was faint at first but slowly became discernible as it moved toward her through the forest. She froze for a moment, then relaxed when she recognized it - it was her brother.

He sprinted through the forest with ease - he had always been much stronger than her and was set to finish dragon training within the next few weeks.

"Syl," he called, using his nickname for her, "I know you're out here, somewhere… Come on, Dad's not here. He fell asleep back at the house."

She waited for a moment, watching him glance around the woods, never bothering to look up. Then, quietly, she dropped down to the branch below her, the leaves rustling slightly as her feet landed… Then again… And again. Finally, she was no more than a few feet above him, and she dropped to the ground, her feet crunching in the .

He nearly jumped two feet in the air when he heard. Gripping his sword, still lodged in its sheath, he spun around quickly, ready to attack a threat at a moment's notice. He relaxed when he saw her, letting go of the hilt.

"Gods, I thought we'd lost you for a little while, Syl," he told her jokingly. "But you wouldn't make me find a new sister, would you?"

She giggled, and he tickled her under the chin. Then he hugged her.

They stood that way for a moment, before he released her, and asked, "You certainly know how to climb. You must've been really high up in that tree, huh?"

She nodded enthusiastically, proud that her brother thought she was good at something.

"How about this," he told her, bending down on one knee to make eye contact. "We'll come out here every other night, and you and I can practice climbing. Does that sound nice?" She nodded quickly again - she knew her brother was afraid of heights, and probably wouldn't like to climb himself.

"And," he smiled, pulling out a bag tied around his waist. "I'll bring snacks, too."

He spilled the contents of the bag on the ground, revealing a small mound of wild apples, strawberries, and plums he must have been saving for a while. They sat there on the ground together, picking away at the berries. When she went to get an apple, she noticed a fresh scar on his arm, a thin trickle of blood dripping on the grass. She grabbed his arm with worry, and he frowned.

"Did Dad hurt you?" she asked.

"N-no," he stammered, trying to cover it with his sleeve, "I just… Tripped. There was a needle lying on the ground, and I…"

He stopped, seeing that she hadn't believed a word of it. He groaned softly. "It's… It's not important. I'm fine. Dad's asleep now, so you don't have to worry about him."

She nodded, and the conversation lapsed into silence for another moment. Then, "Why is Dad so angry all the time?"

He didn't seem all that surprised by the question, but still sighed, and responded, "I… I don't know, Syl. I really don't know."

Once again, the conversation ended, the air seeming a bit thicker than it was a moment before. She couldn't stand it and jumped up.

"I can climb really fast, too," She told him.

He laughed weakly. "I'm sure you can. You certainly got down pretty fast."

She grinned. "But I can go up quick, too! Watch!"

He frowned as she grabbed onto a branch, pulling herself up. "Wait, Syl,"

But she wasn't listening, pulling herself up onto one branch, then another. Maybe she could get her brother to follow her. Maybe he could finally see the stars, too. He was tall. _Really_ tall. Maybe he could even touch them...

"Syl, wait," she heard him call worriedly, his voice growing fainter with each spoken word. "That's… That's too high. Come back down, we can come back tomorrow if you want!"

She could barely hear him anymore. She kept going, higher, and higher, much higher than she had been before.

The limbs got smaller, and smaller, until-

"Sylvi, get down from there right n-" but before he could finish, there was a sharp _SNAP_ from a branch underneath her. She screeched and heard her brother call out her name from below her, and she was falling and falling, leaves and branches rushing past her, scraping her cheeks and bare skin, the wind rushing past her ears, until-

Syl bolted upright in bed, clutching at her sheets for support, before ripping them away in disgust. She looked around the room, searching for the dark night sky, for the bright green summer leaves in the trees, for her brother…

But instead, she found her room.

 _No._

Not her room. Her memories slowly returned to her as she took in her surroundings, remembering where she was. Angrily, she tore away the sheets, cursing at them, and then cursing at her own voice when she remembered it wasn't her own. None of it was her own. Not her voice, not her clothes, not her room, not her hair - Gods, what had they done to her _hair?!_ It was way too short with lots of loose ends - and not her home.

It was all too much. She stood up beside the bed and started walking toward the door quietly, moonlight shining in from a small window her only source of light. She went to pull it open before she heard footsteps from down below. She suddenly remembered that night, as well. Hiccup had left with Toothless, she had eaten and gone to bed early, Astrid's parents had gone up to say goodnight to her, and she had pretended to be asleep-

 _Her parents._ That was it. At least one of them had probably heard her scream as she woke up, especially given that their room was just below her's. She quickly slithered back into bed, pulling the covers back over her. A few minutes later she heard footsteps coming up the creaky stairs. The door slowly groaned open, and the footsteps moved into the room. She kept her eyes shut, facing toward the back wall, remaining as still as she could possibly be. For a moment, she was afraid they would light a candle, or walk over to her, but just as she was about to sit up, there was a soft grunt, followed by the door closing, and the footsteps trailing softly back down the steps.

Exhaling, she let herself relax on the bed again, though it quickly became apparent that she wouldn't be getting any more sleep that night. Her eyes had already adjusted to the light, and a thousand different thoughts were running through her mind. One prevailing among the others and returning as soon as she tried to cast it away - Hiccup's question.

She had to leave. It was the simple conclusion at which she had arrived. Sure they had food, and her housing obviously didn't seem that bad, but the dragons, the training, the people, acting like an entirely different _person_ for the Gods' sakes. It was all just too much. She needed to leave, hard as it may have been. But the second question remained - where would she go? Who would even bother to accept her? She hadn't spent a lot of her recent years making friends, and though she was a Chief's daughter, her tribe alone held such a bad reputation that she would be much better off _not_ telling people who she was.

Groaning to herself, her eyes searched the room, looking for something to distract her from the horrible question. But there was _nothing._ The entire room was _perfect_ , immaculate, every corner clean, every sheet folded, nothing at all was-

 _Wait._

She had almost thought for a moment that she had seen something. No, of course not, it was just her eyes playing tricks on her. It must have been.

But as she looked back, she saw it again. A floorboard, hardly noticeable toward the back of the room, was bent slightly upward at one end, with two nails missing.

 _No,_ she told herself, shaking her head, _It's not important._ If she had grown suspicious of every loose floorboard she ever saw, she would spend the rest of her life tearing apart every single Viking home she walked into.

Yet… It didn't seem _right,_ for some reason. The rest of the room was incredibly clean and neat, aside from the clothes she had thrown on a wooden chair in the corner. She knew Hiccup and Astrid would want her to keep it clean, as well, and she would probably _have_ to if only to keep up her - or Astrid's - reputation.

Curiosity finally winning over, she got up, careful when she placed her bare feet on the ground not to let the boards creak too much. Slowly, cautiously, she made her way to the back of the room and kneeled down to the board.

It was rough and splintering, unlike the smooth, worn down boards in the more frequented parts of the room. In fact, Syl could see exactly the path Astrid must have walked every day when she got up, it was so specifically obvious.

Tentatively tugging on the beam, she found that it was surprisingly easy to pull up, the back end not properly nailed into the wood. Once it was out, she placed it down softly and peered inside.

Resting in a small, hollowed-out chamber was a small piece of metal that glinted brightly in the scarce moonlight. Picking it up, using mainly her fingers to feel it, she found that it was a small necklace attached to a silver chain. Lifting it out more clearly into the beam of moonlight, she found that it was sloppily painted and shaped to resemble a rounded shield with an orange dragon painted in an everlasting circle inside of it, entrapped by the borders of the trinket. The pendant itself, however, was quite well crafted, from what she could tell, with very well rounded edges and not a single dent or smudge.

Flipping it over, she saw a short line of runes carved roughly into the back. If she squinted hard enough, she could just make out what it said.

 _For Astrid,_ it read, _you should smile more._

That was when she realized who had made it, and almost kicked herself. Not so much because she knew who it could be, but who it _couldn't._ The twins were out of the question from the start. It couldn't have been her parents because they wouldn't be so blunt. Fishlegs was too shy to ever make anything like that, and obviously didn't have any interest in her, anyway. It was too sincere and timid to be from Snotlout, which left only one person.

The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. It was simple, and far from a confession of love, but still an obvious sign of admiration. It was humble, yet awkwardly outspoken. Frivolous, but heartfelt. It was just very, very… Hiccup.

 _Hiccup._

She was starting to get more of an idea of how much more the word meant than just a name - there was no other word that really encompassed his personality as a whole. Until then, she had assumed he had been viewed only as 'the Mighty Dragon Conqueror' on Berk, just as he seemed to be everywhere else. Sure, she had heard the occasional tale of the Berk Chieftain's clumsy son setting free an entire flock worth of sheep during the raids, but she had dismissed it as nothing at the time. When she caught her first glimpse of him after he and his father came bearing news of the demise of the Green Death, she thought little of it. It probably wasn't even him, she reasoned, and if it was, maybe he was just a late bloomer. It happened to plenty of Vikings before, someday including, she hoped, herself.

Yet here he was, months later, just as much of a Hiccup as he had been before. For once, she understood the situation between Astrid and him quite clearly - they had obviously always known each other, and until recently, she had probably never even considered dating him, unless to take over his spot as Chief and Berk along with it. Yet she seemed to see something in him - not his strength or cunning, as he didn't seem to have either, but in fact, the exact opposite - his awkwardness, and sarcasm. It didn't make any sense, and it probably didn't to Astrid, either. She had looked for a logical partner all her life, one who was strong, and not smart enough to ask questions, and yet here she was, with perhaps the least logical of them all.

It must've been a constant torment in her mind, she knew. He had more than obvious feelings for her, and yet she had consistently rumbled and rolled her eyes whenever their relationship with each other was brought up at all. Yet she hadn't pushed him away, either, her heart reminding her to keep him around, for whatever reason.

Hiccup, well, Hiccup probably just didn't get it, the poor boy. Maybe that was why he always made offhand messages about how they _weren't_ a couple when she brought it up. He was too afraid and too confused to think it could exist, and he had probably always imagined "dating" Astrid to be… Different, when he was younger, and so didn't think that he had anything with her at all. It would probably be that way until the day they were married, she knew.

Of course, this was all just a guess, anyway. Maybe Astrid really did hate Hiccup but kept him around for his inheritance. Maybe the love she thought she saw him look at her with was just some misguided admiration for her beauty, a solemn view of something he could never really have. It was obvious they weren't "dating", either - they just relied on each other, the brains and the brawn.

Yet the necklace in her hands argued otherwise. Astrid likely wasn't one for material possessions - until then, her ax had seemed to be the only thing she had really been attached to, thanks to some ridiculously fable-like tale about her uncle and a dragon that came to terrorize Berk every year. Her room was not only neat but stark - nothing truly personal seemed to be displayed or flaunted there, like many of the other homes she had been in. By all means, Astrid seemed to be absurdly true to her reputation of a stone-cold warrior with no attachment to worldly possessions.

Yet here was a single, small trinket with the purpose of solely contradicting that fact. She could've just thrown it away - it couldn't be worth _that_ much -, or else wear it every day. Yet here it was, her secret treasure, stowed away under a floorboard in her room. The one time the great and terrible Astrid Hofferson had let herself get attached to something, resting frigidly in her pale hands.

For a moment, she toyed with the idea of stealing it. Astrid would be livid if she ever found out, and likely Hiccup, as well. Perhaps she would never even find out - if Syl did leave, Astrid would be an outcast, stuck as a monster forever. The mere idea of toying with her entire life in a single decision was enough to make her grin. Astrid Hofferson, the arrogant warrior who Syl envied in every way imaginable, finally brought back down to the earth in the most ironic way possible. The thought was tempting, but then again, living her life while she was forced to watch from the sidelines was just as much so…

Sighing, she laid the pendant and chain back down in the box and slid the board back into place. Ensuring that it was back in place, she put Astrid's clothes back on over her nightgown, gathered up some food from the kitchen, and slipped outside as silently as she could.

* * *

Hiccup had a chill in his bones before he even woke up, and he sat up in bed with a start. The sheer abruptness jumped Toothless awake, and he glared up at him. Something felt wrong.

"Come on, bud," he told him, tearing away the covers, "we need to go. I've got a bad feeling about today."

Throwing on his clothes, he dashed down the stairs, stopping to grab his coat before throwing the door open. A throng of both Vikings and dragons were spread about the village, peering behind and to the sides of various buildings and towers, searching. Most of them, however, were simply going about their day. He saw his father talking to Snotlout and the twins in the main square and ran over to them as fast as his disproportionate legs could carry him.

His father raised an eyebrow. "Son?"

"Where's Astrid?" He spluttered.

"Your friends were just wondering the same thing," he said, gesturing back to the three teens behind him, "Her parents are out looking for her, too. You haven't seen her anywhere?"

"Check the docks," he replied quickly, "There'll be a boat missing, or a whole ship, or…"

They all stared at him for a moment. Then he replied, "She took Stormfly, you know."

Hiccup eyes widened as his father's words sank in. She… Took Stormfly. It was a possibility he hadn't even considered. Sure, he had guessed that she might run away - assumed she would, even. He had spent half the night thinking about it, had laid there in bed, waiting for something to happen, something to signify that she had left, that it was over, even though he knew one would never come.

But to _take Stormfly._ She had told him she _hated_ dragons… Was it all just a lie? Astrid had warned him, and he hadn't listened. He hadn't listened, and now Stormfly, her best friend, was gone. Maybe Syl really _did_ hate dragons. Maybe she had just stolen her to get the last laugh, as part of some cruel trick she believed _she_ was the victim of.

He rushed back into his house, hearing one of the twins say something unintelligible behind him to Snotlout. His father called after him, but he didn't listen. He made for the stairs but tripped on the first step and fell over. Toothless nudged him back up onto his feet with a concerned grumble, and after gasping out a quick, "Thanks, bud," he was on his way up again. He had grabbed the worn saddle lying next to his back and hoisted it onto Toothless's back before a question ran through his head.

 _Why would Stormfly go?_ In his frenzy, he hadn't even considered Stormfly's whole view on the situation. Even if Stormfly did _let_ her on, there was no way she would have willingly left Berk and Astrid. Unless, of course, Syl had threatened her somehow… But that didn't make any sense, either. Syl still seemed quite terrified of dragons. She flinched every time one of them so much as breathed a few feet away from her and had practically fainted whenever Astrid tackled her. No, Stormfly wouldn't, _couldn't_ be threatened by her. So how-

A large _THUMP_ from outside that shook the entire house made him drop the strap he was trying to fasten. _Gods, what now?_ He thought, rushing back down the stairs. He stepped out the door, gasping for breath once again, and was met with…

Blue. Lots and lots of blue that blocked his path outside. Stepping back, he saw that the blue marked the scales of a dragon that he had nearly walked into. But not just _any_ dragon.

Syl slipped off of Stormfly's back and down onto the ground, obviously quite pleased with herself, despite the fact that her face was as pale and clammy as a rotten cod's underside.

"Sy-" he started, catching himself. "Astrid? Y-you… Where…?"

Stoick and Snotlout rushed over a moment later - the twins had obviously left when Hiccup had gone back inside.

"Where you been, lass?" The Chief asked her. "Your parents are out looking for ya', you know. It's not like you and Stormfly to go missing this early in the morning."

"I, uh," she began, swallowing uncomfortably. "I know I was a little… Out of practice in the Academy, so I decided to go for a morning flight with Stormfly to catch up a little. I… Needed some fresh air, anyway."

"Well, as long as you're alright. Try not to go missing so often, Astrid. Or if you do, 't least tell us you're going to first," He chuckled to himself, and she smiled back at him weakly.

"Don't worry, Chief. I'm back," she turned to Hiccup, a glint in her eye and a smirk on her lips, "and I'm here to stay."


	15. The Visit

_**Well**_ **then!**

 **If you haven't already heard, apparently DreamWorks Animation pushed the release of HTTYD 3 up to the spring of 2019, making that its 4th delay total. Huh.**

 **Aside from that, hello everybody! Yes, this story is still alive, as am I - once again, I'm very, very sorry. Chapter's a bit shorter this time, for one main reason - I've been working on a one-shot! I'm actually really excited to release it, hopefully sometime in the coming weeks. Because of this, I'm trying to incorporate a new schedule for myself that includes writing for a few hours every day, which also means, hopefully, earlier updates. I hope you all enjoy this chapter! Remember to follow for updates and leave lots of reviews!**

 **I don't own How to Train Your Dragon.**

* * *

 **~An Hour Earlier~**

Astrid groaned as the bright light of the sun woke her from the euphoric tranquility of sleep. She had been blessed with a lack of dreams that night, instead spending it digesting the remainder of the half-rotten fish she had eaten with a guilty pleasure the night before.

Even after she woke up, however, she felt quite chipper that morning, finding it surprisingly easy to ignore the horrible consequences of the situation she had gotten herself into, as well as the ever-present dread of the possibility that the entire Village would have her outcast by the end of the day, and she would spend the rest of her life in solidarity. Indeed, none of these things bothered her as she did her best to mimic her normal morning routine as a dragon; stretching, quickly dipping her head down in cold water to wake up, gurgling water, even going to the bathroom in the darkest corner of the gully she could find - which, she discovered, was an experience she did _not_ want to repeat again in such an 'open' manner, yet knew she would still have to - and going on a light walk around the ravine. It almost, _almost,_ seemed normal.

That was until a blue Nadder with an obnoxious rat disguised as herself on its back swooped down into the crevasse. The grace with which she touched down was annoying at best, and terrifying at worst - she was already almost as good as herself, even if the whole maneuver _was_ mainly guided by Stormfly.

"Hey, Astrid," Syl said, sliding off of her back. From the moment her feet landed, she couldn't help but notice something strange about how she stood, as well as how she talked - the night before, she had seemed wary and alert, as well as timid. Now, while not necessarily _confident,_ she seemed at least more… Comfortable. As though she had already gotten _used_ to it after a single day. The thought almost made her laugh. Nonetheless, that still only made her wonder what exactly she was doing there even more.

"I just thought I'd stop by," she continued, the incredible accuracy of her own voice annoying her even more. "I know you must be pretty lonely down here, without your little Hiccup and all."

 **GET TO THE POINT.**

She took another step forward, likely the closest she'd been since the last time she had tackled her. Syl's eyes only flashed.

"I… Wanted to let you know, that…" She breathed out slowly and stared up over the ridge of the ravine toward the rising sun in fabricated sophistication, and wisdom. "I've decided to stay."

Astrid stared at her for a moment in disbelief, before growling and beginning to write in the sand.

 **YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME**

 **IT'S ALL ABOUT YOU, ISN'T IT?**

"Wh- what?" She stuttered, her pride and confidence suddenly failing her.

 **YOU ACT LIKE YOU'RE DOING US**

 **SOME KIND OF FAVOR.**

"Well, I," she risked, "I am…"

 **AT BEST, YOU'RE PAYING US BACK**

 **FOR WHAT YOU DID TO ME.**

 **YOU DON'T REALIZE HOW NICE**

 **HICCUP IS BEING TO YOU, EITHER.**

 **IF I HAD MY WAY YOU WOULD BE SITTING**

 **AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA RIGHT NOW**

 **WISHING YOU HAD NEVER STEPPED FOOT ON THIS ISLAND.**

"I think I'm already starting to…" She muttered.

 **BUT YOU ALREADY KNEW THAT.**

 **THIS IS MY LIFE THAT YOU'RE TAKING OVER**

 **AND YOU ACT LIKE IT'S SOME KIND OF GAME**

"You really think that?" She demanded. "I worked my _ass_ off yesterday trying to be you, _missy. And_ , I've spent the past few hours training, too, believe it or not. And you know what? It wasn't even as hard as you made it seem. Didn't know you lived so _easy._ "

Astrid reared.

 **EASY?**

 **YOU THINK MY LIFE IS EASY?**

She nodded reluctantly, making Astrid huff in indignance.

 **HOW WAS YOUR AEROBATICS TRAINING, THEN?**

She hesitated. "Aerobatics? Oh, the flying stunts… Yeah, it was… Fine. Just fine. How did you know that we did…?"

 **WE DO THE SAME ROUTINE EVERY DAY.**

 **I ASSUME YOU ENJOYED THE REST OF**

 **HICCUP'S LESSONS AT THE ACADEMY?**

 **WE DO THOSE EVERY DAY, AS WELL.**

"Oh…" She wheezed. "Every day, huh? Every… Day…"

She sucked in her breath. "That's fine. Just fine."

Astrid raised an eyebrow at the girl - her face had turned a shade of light green just thinking about it.

"Alright!" She yelled to nobody in particular. "So maybe your life isn't so easy. It doesn't give you the right to act as high and mighty as you do, though, and it doesn't mean I'm not doing you a ridiculous favor with this. In fact, not even a favor - I'm saving your _life._ Out of the kindness of my heart."

 **YOU'RE ONLY DOING THIS**

 **SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO FEND FOR YOURSELF**

 **BECAUSE YOU DON'T KNOW HOW.**

Syl guffawed.

"And what makes you so sure of that, huh? I'd do perfectly fine out there. You just have too much pride to accept that fact that _you need help for this_."

 **AND SO DO YOU.**

 **FOR ALL YOUR HATRED**

 **TOWARD YOUR TRIBE**

 **YOU STILL MISS THEM**

 **BECAUSE THEY WERE YOUR ROCK**

 **THEY WERE YOUR LIFE**

 **AND NOW IT'S BEEN TAKEN AWAY FROM YOU.**

"And just _what_ ," Syl seethed, obviously not taking the time to think about her words, "Would you know about your life being taken away…"

Her voice faded as she realized the irony of her question, and Astrid stared up at her in hollow triumph.

"Oh," Syl's voice was still weak as she took in the ravine, Astrid's new home. Trying to take a step forward in one last attempt at dominance, Syl grimaced, and clutched her leg, sinking down to one knee. A bit wary, Astrid walked up to her, the misplaced adrenaline of a moment before having disappeared.

 **NEITHER OF US ARE PERFECT.**

She wasn't used to cheering people up, especially not _this_ girl. But if she could break down over something as stupid as an argument, she was still a long way off from the level of resilience she would need to be at in order to live her life. Normally, she'd "train" people by simply oppressing them into submission - it was harsh, but it was the only way she really knew how. In this case, however, she would have to write out insults on the ground, or otherwise tackle her, and she had quickly learned over the past few days that neither of those tactics would really work. Not only was it awkward, but it was ineffective. Syl was afraid of her, obviously, and normally that would be enough. But pain and threats didn't seem to affect her - fear seemed to be more of a reflex for her than a genuine concern.

Fortunately, this wasn't the first time she was forced to resort to different tactics - Hiccup was one such person, normally responding to her threats and anger with no more than a short bit of misplaced sarcasm, his own line of defense, she had soon learned. She had hated him for it for a long time, as it made him appear to at first have little concern over the major issues in the Village, primarily the dragon raids. It made it even worse that he was set to become Chief someday - she had once even contemplated marrying him just to take over as acting Chief and ensure the Village's well-being. He certainly wouldn't stand against her, she knew, and being Chief _was_ something that she had always slightly wanted, deep, deep down in her heart.

But then, in a single day, a single _hour,_ it all changed. His useless blacksmithing skills she had disregarded for such a long time had suddenly returned flight to a grounded dragon. His sarcasm was no longer annoying, becoming almost… Cute, as horrible as the word tasted on her lips. His stubbornness in the face of failure became… Strength. For once, she actually… _Liked,_ him. Not loved - no, she was before and still then a long way from that point. But still, before she knew it, she was leaning on him for support more often than not, his calm, reassuring words being the only thing that could restrain her in times she just wanted to _throttle_ anyone. Time and time again, he surprised her, speaking even the toughest brutes out of hostility, making the most deadly dragons she had ever known as tame as housecats.

But there had been some - few, but some - times when he had needed her support, as well. It started out awkwardly - she had never _had_ to comfort him before, or anyone, for that matter. Although she knew he needed human connections just like everyone else, it had never once occurred to her that _she_ would have to be the one to support _him_. So she just copied what he did, as best she could. Calm words and gestures were foreign to her, yet for all he had done for both her and the Village, she owed it to him to at least try her best. So in the times he was hurting most, she was there for him, as close as Toothless.

Syl, however, was _not_ Hiccup.

Supporting her was more of a necessity than a choice - she didn't feel any emotional connection toward this girl besides loathing, mixed with envy she didn't even want to admit she had to herself. This girl may not have had a perfect life so far, sure, but she was insufferable enough to wipe away any sense of empathy Astrid felt for her, never mind the incredibly vast mess she had gotten them all into. As good as she usually was at dealing with people she didn't like, though, this was a case with a level of delicacy that was far beyond anything she had ever had to deal with before. Some problems and issues in the past had required large amounts of strategy and patience, as well as diplomacy - Hiccup had opened her eyes to a whole new world of options she had never even given any thought to before. But when it came down to it, she could almost always argue or fight her way out of a situation, if not both.

This time, she couldn't do either. Arguments were near impossible when she couldn't even speak, and this girl kept changing the subject, and as far as fighting went… What was there to fight? Syl, maybe, but she had already tried that, and yet somehow now felt even worse than she had before. That wasn't to say she had made her peace with the girl, either - she still hated her guts, and didn't trust anything that had come out of her mouth that day. But the one thing she _did_ believe was that she had no idea how to change her back. That meant they had to go along with Hiccup's stupid plan…

In a way, she would've felt better if Syl had more to lord over her, taking her place and all; at least then, it would've been obvious that imitating her would be a breeze for at least a few weeks, painful and guilt-inducing as it would have been to watch.

But this girl was proving to be just as lost as she was - she'd gotten little more than a crash course on Astrid's life a few days before, and was so antsy around dragons that she half-wondered how she could even bring herself to mount Stormfly - she still wouldn't go within twenty feet of Toothless, either, if their meeting the night before was any indication. And if she was as unstable now as she had been in the Village for the past day and a half… They had work to do. A _lot_ of work to do.

And as much as she hated to think about it, there was one thing they would need if they were to go any further with Syl's… Training.

Trust.

An unspoken truce had already been formed between them, she knew. Yet again, it had been formed out of pure necessity - Astrid still hated Syl and, for whatever reason, Syl hated her. As insufferable as she was, she knew she would have to make friends with this girl if they were to get anywhere, and that would require tolerance from both of them. Given that Syl didn't seem likely to be the one to start, Astrid decided she would be the bigger person and give it a shot.

 **YOUR LEG HURTS?**

Astrid gestured with her snout toward her foot, which Syl still had her arms wrapped around like bandages. She nodded.

"It's… It's not broken, is it?" She grimaced. "My… My thighs, they feel like they're on fire… Is that bad?"

Astrid had to resist the urge to chuckle a bit.

 **IT'S CALLED SADDLE BURN**

 **YOU'LL GET USED TO IT.**

"Used to it?" She asked. "Doesn't it go away?"

 **AFTER A LITTLE WHILE, YES, AND YOU DON'T NOTICE IT**

 **BUT UNLESS YOU START RIDING A LOT MORE**

 **OR GO OUT RUNNING EVERY MORNING**

 **I DOUBT IT.**

"Doesn't your elder have a salve for it or something?" She winced again, as she made the mistake of rubbing it.

 **A SALVE?**

 **FOR SADDLE BURNS?**

"There's… A salve for everything," She replied, breathing out slowly as she glared at her leg, as if trying to urge an apology from it. Astrid was surprised she wasn't complaining more about it, in fact, but that just meant she was doing her best to accept her "new life," both the good parts and the bad.

Slowly, she tried to think back to what little she knew about making friends. She'd never really had to _make_ them, really. They had just… Came to her. Nonetheless, this would not be so easy.

 _Connections,_ she remembered. _What do we have in common? What can we talk about?_ She wracked her mind, before coming across something that hit her like a smack in the face.

 **THAT'S NOTHING COMPARED TO SOME OTHER RIDERS**

She wrote, remembering the first month or two she had experienced the horrors of saddle sores first-hand. Rather than brag or talk about herself like she had planned, she decided to talk about someone they both knew after a second thought.

 **HICCUP'S THIGHS ARE RED AS RIPE APPLES FROM HOW OFTEN HE AND TOOTHLESS GO FLYING**

Syl asked with a smirk, "You've seen Hiccup's thighs?"

Petrified, Astrid blushed, or felt like she had. _Of all the people that make me want to blush… It had to be this girl?_ she thought, more than a little exasperated at this point. Then she realized Syl was laughing.

"Oh, come on," she snickered, "Aren't you at least a _little bit_ worried _?_ "

Astrid raised an eyebrow.

 **ABOUT WHAT?**

"You've literally handed over your own life to the safety of _me_ , someone you've _never met,_ and in doing so, you've basically _given_ me your boyfriend. _Your boyfriend._ I look, sound, and, well, you're _teaching_ me to act just like you. And you're not the tiniest bit worried about him? I mean, I can see that you two don't have the most _normal_ relationship, at least from what I've heard about them, but still…" She shrugged, "Boys are… Easily tempted. Especially when a near-perfect copy of the girl they like pops up when the other one, y'know, becomes a dragon."

Quelling the overwhelming tide of anger that had boiled up inside Astrid with every word the girl spoke, Astrid did take a moment to consider her question.

It wasn't something she hadn't thought about before, though not too thoroughly, either. Syl did have a bit of a point, anyway, and as mad as it made her to think about it, or how this girl had just thrown out this horrible thought like fish bait into a river, Astrid came to an honest conclusion in only a few seconds.

 **I'M NOT WORRIED ABOUT HICCUP**

For one, she had a feeling this girl was just playing with her - warming her up, so to speak. As badly as that had gone for her in the past, Syl almost seemed to _enjoy_ making people hate her. This had made Astrid even angrier for a while, before she took a step back, and tried to see in the same way the boyfriend in question might have. She realized it was just another defense tactic, like what Hiccup used - threats and mockery instead of sarcasm and jokes. Syl didn't really _mean_ any of it. At least, that's what she told herself.

And Hiccup… The thought that he would find someone else that quickly made her want to laugh out loud. Sure, he was a bit more popular in the village, but even if he _found_ a girl, she'd probably shy away from him with the same amount of kindness that a yak shies away from a flaming Monstrous Nightmare. Aside from that, what they had wasn't really a… Relationship, anyway. They hadn't made any marriage plans, hadn't talked to each other's' parents - because _that_ would go down well - and, gods forbid, hadn't even considered kids yet, either. Having Hiccup as her husband was such a ridiculous thought that she had just set it aside in her mind months ago and left it there. As far as any connection between them went… It certainly wasn't love, not yet, and any Viking in Berk would double over laughing if asked whether Astrid Hofferson was a romantic. Still, there was _something_ there, even if she didn't know what it was. And just as she was loyal to Hiccup, she hoped - _knew_ \- Hiccup would be loyal to her, as well. The _real_ her, anyway.

Syl frowned but tried to brush it off with a shrug. "Well, if you say so. Though if I were him…" She left the sentence hanging, obviously trying to elicit another response from Astrid. When she received none, she sighed.

And so, the conversation lapsed into silence once again. Obviously somewhat uncomfortable, Syl began to glance around the ravine at the trees, lake, and pond, then Stormfly, before finally coming to rest back on her, fixating on something on her tail.

Astrid raised an eyebrow.

 **WHAT'S WRONG WITH IT?**

"Uh… Nothing…" Syl muttered absent-mindedly, making her way to her tail anyway. Astrid back stepped a bit, and Syl hesitated for a moment, before continuing. Astrid shot her a look.

"What?" She asked. "If I wanted to hurt you, I would've done it already."

 _If you wanted to hurt me, you'd be dead already,_ Astrid thought to herself. She noticed Stormfly purr with concern a few feet away, and she cooed instinctively - it was the only reassuring sound she knew, and it seemed to come naturally enough.

She froze as she felt a cool hand on what must have been her tailfin, and whipped her head back as far as she could. Syl seemed to be analyzing it quite thoroughly, almost… Admiring it.

Astrid growled and sent her another look that she hoped asked her what the _hell_ she thought she was doing.

"Come on," she replied, "I thought you wanted me to take more of an interest in dragons. Besides, it's not like you can hurt me back here."

Astrid responded by slapping her in the face with her tail.

Syl reeled but caught the fin in her hand just as she brought it back down to the ground. Astrid growled again unmoving.

"I'm more interested in your… Mechanics, than anything," she said, pulling out one of the fins. "I wanted to take a look at Toothless's fin a while ago, but your fellow Night Fury isn't really the kind of dragon I'd like to spend much time around - not that I'd like to spend time around _any_ dragon - and I know you can't really afford to hurt me anymore, so," she shrugged again. "It's not hurting _you,_ is it?"

Astrid had every mind to tell her it did, if only to get this crazy girl away from her, but she forced herself not to say anything - if this was what being _friends_ with this girl meant, she could bear _whatever_ she was doing, just this once.

Still, after a few minutes of Syl repeatedly pulling out her tailfins and pushing them back in, Astrid couldn't stand it anymore. It was just too… _Weird._ Too random.

 **HICCUP HAS MORE METAL FINS**

"Really?" She asked, "Do you think he'd let me look at some?"

 **MAYBE**

She replied, eager to get the girl's mind on another subject, and off of her tail. This day was going very differently from all the ways she had anticipated it might.

With some reluctance, Syl stepped away from her tail and stood back to analyze her, the same look appearing on her face as the one Hiccup got whenever he discovered a new dragon or thought of an idea for a new device. It… _Bothered_ her. She felt like crawling out of her own skin - or scales.

"What's it like," she asked, making Astrid flinch for no particular reason. "Being so big?"

Astrid had half a mind to growl at her again but stopped herself. The question seemed genuine enough, laced in incompetence as all of hers were.

 **POWERFUL**

She took a step toward forward, noticing Syl's eyes flash, and feeling more than a hint of malice.

 **LIKE I COULD CRUSH**

 **THE SMALLEST**

\- She took another step -

 **TINIEST**

\- And another -

 **MOST INSIGNIFICANT CREATURES**

 **THAT PESTER ME**

 **JUST A LITTLE**

 **BIT**

 **TOO**

Syl yelped. By that point, Astrid had backed her up against one of the walls of the ravine, and the strange distance in the girl's eyes was gone, replaced by the fear and slight anger she usually wore around her. It was almost relieving, in its own way, but still, Astrid sighed.

 **YOU'RE GOING TO NEED TO DO BETTER THAN THAT**

She backed away, letting the girl gather her wits and stutter out a faint, "W-what?"

 **YOU NEED TO DO BETTER**

 **THAT WAS A TEST**

 **AND YOU JUST FAILED.**

"You… _What?"_ Syl's eyes flared - it was all anger, now. _Good,_ Astrid thought, _Maybe this won't be as hard as I thought._

"A _test?_ Of what?! How to react when a dragon pins you against a wall with nowhere to go?!"

 **YES**

 **YOU BROKE RULES ONE AND TWO**

 **OF DRAGON ENCOUNTERS**

 **OR ANY ENEMIES IN GENERAL**

"Oh!" Syl threw her hands up into the air. "Enlighten me, won't you?"

 **TWO - ALWAYS BE READY TO ATTACK WITH WHAT WEAPONS YOU HAVE**

 **IF YOU DON'T HAVE ANY, USE YOUR FISTS.**

 **I'LL TEACH YOU THAT, AS WELL.**

"I know how to use my fists…" she droned. Astrid raised an eyebrow but otherwise ignored her. She had to be lying - Astrid knew it.

 **ONE - NEVER LET DOWN YOUR GUARD, AND NEVER RUN AWAY FROM A FIGHT YOU THINK YOU CAN HANDLE.**

"That's _stupid!"_ Syl said, obviously not catching her attempt at a compliment. "And foolhardy! You'll get yourself killed doing that."

 **IT'S HONORABLE,**

 **EFFECTIVE,**

 **AND MORE IMPORTANTLY RIGHT NOW**

 **IT'S WHAT I WOULD DO IN A FIGHT.**

 **THE POINT IS**

 **IF A REAL WILD DRAGON HAD APPROACHED YOU**

 **AND YOU DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO**

 **YOU PROBABLY WOULD HAVE BEEN DEAD BY NOW.**

"You _are_ a real dragon…" Syl muttered. Astrid gave her a nod.

 **GOOD IDEA**

Syl seemed surprised, but let her continue.

 **I'M GOING TO TEACH YOU**

 **HOW TO TRAIN A DRAGON.**

The girl snorted. "Very funny, _Astrid._ Hiccup already taught me. I had to do it with Stormfly, remember?"

Astrid shook her head.

 **THAT WAS PLANNED**

 **WE HAD TO CONVINCE HER**

 **YOU WERE A FRIEND FIRST.**

 **NOTHING LIKE A WILD DRAGON.**

Syl's smile seemed to drop a bit. "Wait… You're saying I'll have to… _Train_ other dragons? _Wild_ dragons?"

It was Astrid's turn to smile.

 **OH, YES**

 **IF HICCUP DOESN'T TAKE YOU WITH HIM**

 **YOU'LL BE DRAGGED OFF BY THE TWINS**

 **OR FISHLEGS TO HELP THEM WITH WHATEVER**

 **WEIRD NEW BEAST THEY'VE FOUND.**

 **PEOPLE IN THE VILLAGE WILL COME TO YOU FOR HELP**

 **WHENEVER HICCUP ISN'T AROUND**

 **OR THEY NEED A MORE VIOLENT DRAGON TAMED**

"And how exactly do you plan on making this work? You're not exactly a wild dragon. Not yet, anyway."

 **YOU BE ME**

 **I'LL BE A NIGHT FURY**

"How _original,_ " she replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm, sounding strange in her own tone. Once again, Astrid ignored her. She had a feeling their relationship would consist of a lot of one of them ignoring the other - that was fine, Astrid was used to ignoring people. But given that Syl was literally _living her life for her, she_ couldn't really afford to ignore _her._

 **I'LL RUN UP TO YOU**

 **LIKE A DRAGON**

 **YOU DEFEND YOURSELF**

 **LIKE I WOULD.**

"You're going to attack me?" She asked, stupefied. "I… I don't know how to use your axe! I thought that was made clear in that little fight we had a few days ago, but I guess not."

Astrid shook her head.

 **NOT ATTACK YOU**

 **RUN UP TO YOU**

 **INTIMIDATE ME**

 **SCARE ME**

 **FIGHTING IS MORE THAN JUST**

 **SWINGING AN AXE**

 **AT THE ENEMY'S FACE**

"Ah, very profound," she said, though Astrid could tell she was at least taking this a _bit_ more seriously. She turned to Stormfly, who had calmed down some, and nodded her head up. Stormfly stayed, obviously still somewhat nervous. But still, Astrid nodded - they would need to be alone if this was to be as realistic as possible. After a moment, Stormfly left, likely off to find food in the forest or fish out in the sea.

 **GET YOUR AXE**

 **HOLD YOUR GROUND**

 **BE READY.**

"Wait… Wait!" She cried. "What am I supposed to do if-"

Before she could finish, Astrid had disappeared into the forest.

* * *

 _Alright, don't panic, don't panic,_ Syl thought to herself. _Gods, I never should've come back here alone. Hiccup was coming back later, anyway. I should've just let him-_

There was a rustle behind her, and she whipped around, clutching to the axe she knew would be useless anyway. But it was nothing - it hadn't even come from the forest, just some small vermin skittering across the ravine, gathering its last few acorns before winter arrived.

She barely saw the creature for another second, before it disappeared into the gloom of the forest once again. It was quite strange, how very _vulnerable_ she felt. She knew that, according to Hiccup and Astrid, this was the safest and most hidden place on the island, and she knew Astrid wasn't really going to hurt her, but it just didn't feel _right._ She lived in the darkness - it was comforting and safe, and nobody knew where she was. Yet here, out in broad daylight, with nothing but an oversized axe to protect herself with, literally being _told_ a she-dragon was going to run out of the woods at any moment and attack her… It was nerve-wracking, at best.

There was the crack of a branch again, and she darted her head back around to see.

A gray, clawed foot strode out from the gloom of the trees, talons fully extended. There came a low, chilling growl from the murk as cold, giant blue eyes flashed open, staring straight back into hers. Syl gulped and clutched her axe before a strange and almost laughable thought came over her like a blizzard in winter. _I've spent all this time talking about Astrid going feral,_ she wanted to snort but was far too scared. _I guess I got my wish._

Astrid, no, _the dragon_ went silent as she stepped out of the forest. Somehow it was even eerier than the growl from a moment before - Night Furies had always been known for their silence, that is, until they struck... And they _never_ missed…

Astrid took another step toward her, then another… Fifteen feet… Ten feet away… And then she couldn't take it anymore.

"B-back!" Her voice cracked, and she blamed it on Gothi's potion beginning to wear off, though she knew it wasn't.

"Back… Foul beast!" She held up a hand in her own feeble attempt at authority.

The dragon stopped, eyes widening, and for a moment, Syl thought she had succeeded. Then Astrid groaned, slumped her shoulders, and the dragon was gone as quickly as it had appeared.

 **WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?**

"What?" Syl asked, already knowing what she meant.

 **THIS ISN'T SYL'S TALES OF ADVENTURES AND HEROICS**

 **YOU'RE TRAINING A DRAGON**

 **NOT READING TO IT**

 **THAT'S WHAT FISHLEGS IS FOR.**

"You told me to be intimidating!" Syl cried. "What else was I supposed to do?"

Astrid rolled her eyes.

 **BODY LANGUAGE**

 **EYE CONTACT**

 **NO FANCY WORDS**

 **MAKE SURE YOU HAVE COMMUNICATION**

 **AND MAKE SURE YOU'RE ON EQUAL FOOTING**

"What does that even mean?" Syl asked, stupefied. Astrid only shook her head.

 **JUST MAKE SURE THEY'RE AS SCARED OF YOU**

 **AS YOU ARE OF THEM.**

"That's easier said than done-"

 **DOESN'T MATTER**

 **LET'S TRY IT AGAIN**

And once more, Astrid bounded off into the forest, leaving her stuttering out questions and coughing in the dust.

* * *

Syl took hold of her surroundings, trying to be at least somewhat more prepared for this encounter. Though she didn't have much to work with, it would be good to know what she had to work with, what she could use to her advantage. Even if it didn't help now, it gave her a certain level of comfort, and she knew that it would come in handy if she were ever in a situation like this in the future, which, Syl knew, she likely would be. Because, according to Hiccup, they would be traveling a lot. Because she was staying. On Berk. Gods, she still couldn't even convince _herself_ of the fact.

"It's okay," she whispered, the spoken words comforting, though they weren't really from her own voice. "It's just a few weeks of this. Then I'll… I'll find something else. Somewhere else to go. There will always be somewh-"

Before she could finish, There was a whooshing sound from somewhere above her in the forest surrounding the alcove. She flinched, her eyes moving up to the rim, but there was nothing. She furrowed her brows.

 _How the hell did Astrid manage to get up-_ But her thoughts quickly faded as the characteristic growl came from the forest, and blue eyes flashed at her through the gloom of the sunken trees. This time, however, she had approached slightly more to the south, on a rise that would put her a few feet above as she approached her.

Syl took a deep breath. Then another. Feeling the fear returning, she tried to make it go away, but it was no use.

 _Come on, think!_ She told herself, _Get mad! They're the reason I'm in this whole mess! They're breaking a generations-old Viking tradition, and dragons are…._

She narrowed her eyes, thinking back suddenly to the dream from the night before that she could only just remember.

 _Dragons are evil._

Then, with a wild battle cry, she charged the dragon, bringing the axehead down a few feet in front of her snout. Astrid screeched as she reeled back, her front claws flying up into the air before she remembered she was a dragon. She growled at her as she came back down to the ground, and Syl desperately pulled at the axe lodged in the dirt, now genuinely scared.

 **WERE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?!**

"You were… Making me nervous!" With a grunt, Syl gave another tug on the axe, and it came loose, flying out of her hands and landing on the grass a few feet away.

 **NERVOUS?**

 **IF I ATTACKED EVERY PERSON**

 **THAT HAD EVER MADE ME NERVOUS**

 **HALF THE ISLANDS I VISITED WOULD BE**

 **SEVERAL HUNDRED VIKINGS SHORT**

"You're not a Viking…" Syl walked over to the axe, gasping under the weight as she tried to pick it up. "Just a dragon that likes to think she's one…"

Given the mashing of her teeth and growl she could practically hear rising in the back of her throat, this obviously aggravated Astrid quite a bit, to Syl's great pleasure. After a moment, however, she huffed out a puff of breath, visible in the frigid morning air, and looked back at her. This was almost just as unsettling to Syl - she had gotten used to pushing Astrid past her limits, and it hadn't taken long to learn how - it was one of her specialties. Whenever she felt she was on the losing side of a conversation, she would simply resort to personal insults. Though it oftentimes ended in her being tackled, it had thus far proved as an effective method of changing the topic. In the past hour, however, Astrid had almost seemed… Tolerant, of her. It unearthed an odd feeling in the pit of her stomach.

 **IT DOESN'T MATTER**

 **THIS ISN'T ABOUT FIGHTING A DRAGON**

 **IT'S ABOUT REASONING WITH THEM**

 **MOST DRAGONS WILL OUTWEIGH YOU**

 **IN SIZE, SPEED, WEIGHT, ATTACK POWER,**

 **AND MANY OTHER THINGS.**

 **YOU NEED TO CONVINCE IT THAT YOU'RE**

 **JUST AS POWERFUL**

 **EVEN IF YOU AREN'T.**

 **DANGEROUS**

 **BUT IN CONTROL OF YOURSELF.**

"That's not exactly how Hiccup seems to do it…" Syl answered skeptically.

 **HICCUP IS DIFFERENT,**

 **BESIDES**

 **IT'S THE WAY I DO IT**

 **SO IT'S THE WAY YOU WILL DO IT, TOO.**

 **NOW LET'S TRY THIS ONE MORE TIME**

 **YOU REMINDED ME OF SOMETHING**

 **I FORGOT ABOUT, AT LEAST.**

 **AND IF YOU DON'T DO THIS RIGHT,**

 **MAYBE I WILL GO FERAL ON YOU**

 **JUST FOR FUN.**

Knowing she wouldn't be able to get any more questions in - this seemed to be Astrid's main way of teaching, she had quickly learned - Syl ignored her last threat, and yelled at Astrid as she ran into the forest, "You know, you're becoming more of a dragon each time you do this..."

It was a fairly obvious statement, and one they both already knew quite well, but for it to be said out loud seemed to break away a layer of the communication between them neither had known existed.

Astrid hesitated just a few steps away from the trees and looked almost as though she was about to turn around, before running in.

"Alright. Body language," She said aloud to herself. "Come on, Syl, you've been making people nervous around you for years. Can't be that much harder with a dragon." Of course, Astrid wasn't really a dragon, as Syl had already failed twice and knew all too well that she would be dead already had she been confronted with a real dragon. She _did_ know that she would need to learn a lot more about Astrid's life if she was going to do this, but she hadn't really thought the training would start _the moment she told her she was staying._ She had only come to brag, really - she _had_ spent the entire morning practicing with Stormfly, and not even for bragging rights, either. Yet she hadn't even gotten a chance to tell her. She had a feeling that would be the case many times in the future, as well…

 _Gods, am I doing this?_ She sighed, unconsciously leaning down on her axe as she waited for Astrid to step out again, and trying to wrap her head around her strange, borderline paradoxical advice.

 _Dangerous… But equal? How does that even make sense? And how am I supposed to look dangerous to a dragon? It's not like dragons are afraid of Vikings. If they were, why would they have kept coming back to steal our food? They didn't_ have _to serve this queen everyone talks so much about. It's probably just her - she seems to think everyone's too afraid to speak up to her, even dragons._ She smirked. _Well, I guess I'm here to prove her-_

Yet again, she was interrupted from her thoughts as a quiet but sure _whoosh_ traveled down to her from somewhere up above. She whipped around, gnashing her teeth, but once again, there was nothing there.

"This isn't funny anymore, Astrid!" She yelled up to the trees, probably looking for all the world like a lunatic. "I know you're there, somehow!"

Still, there was no response, until once again there came the distinctive _whoosh_ of a very large body traveling at a very fast pace, a bit further away this time. Syl narrowed her eyes down to horizontal slits, the glint of the sun flashing in the corner of her vision. The world seemed frozen in that moment, completely silent, until the bone-chilling sound of a Night-Fury's screech came crashing down toward her, nearly knocking her off of her feet.

Her mind was screaming at her to run, to get out of there as quickly as possible, but still, she stood there, absolutely frozen, eyes staring upward into the empty sky that seemed far too bright and blue for what she had just heard. Then, all at once, the world seemed to return to its normal cycle, birds chirping, some various rodents chattering to themselves in the woods nearby, even the trees rustled in the wind again. Everything was fine once again, except, of course, for Syl.

* * *

Astrid waited within the murk of the forest, thinking. Though many of the trees had lost their leaves already, the spruces and firs still worked quite well in hiding her, and there were more than enough of them.

She spent her time contemplating her next mode of approach, for the sake of Syl's training, of course. Not because she enjoyed it - that would be ridiculous.

In fact, she _did_ enjoy it, and quite a bit. In the past, nobody ever really took her seriously. At least, not at first. They would respond to her threats with a light chuckle, seeing her only as a teenage girl with an axe far too big for her to handle. It was infuriating, and for a little while, that was enough to set her over the edge. She took great pleasure in proving them wrong at first, though after awhile, it became more tedious and annoying than anything - Snotlout was one example.

Nevertheless, she had a feeling her enemies would be laughing a bit less if they saw a thousand-pound Night Fury charging toward them. It sure as hell seemed to work on Syl, though for once, that wasn't a good thing. Eventually, she came to a conclusion - she would enter farther north this time, where she knew the plain was slightly more level with Syl. Though the girl was obviously struggling, she at least seemed to be taking the whole exercise at least somewhat seriously, which was a start.

Slowly, she padded through the forest, leaves brushing past her face and over her wings, tail leaving a track on the ground behind her, though not very deep. Nonetheless, the sense of everything brushing past her enormous form at once, as well as her enjoyment from the whole thing was enough to make her think back to Syl's statement. Syl thought she had found her breaking point, what really made Astrid snap - and she had. Honor was what Astrid had always strived for, and with every step she took as a dragon, the keenest of Vikings would say she was abandoning her truest of standards.

But there was one quick conclusion she had come to over the past few days and had chosen to cling to like a plank of wood in the open sea. If she didn't stay active, she might not have gone feral, but she _definitely_ would have gone crazy, though neither of those was anything she was anxious to experience. And so, she brought her mind back to this thought each time, and so far, it had worked.

She peered as far as she could through the trees once she had chosen a spot - her eyesight had improved significantly since her transformation - but wasn't quite able to see out of the woods. Then she turned full-dragon.

It was harder than she expected each time - putting on a threatening look was something she had had more than enough practice with in the past, enough so that she could by then part a crowd with no more than a single glare. Now, though, it was an entirely new process - her face was shaped completely different, with new muscles she barely knew how to use, and a mouth that spanned across where her cheeks should have been. Her ears were now flexible as well, with a few small flaps with no obvious use lining them. There were her eyes, too - she didn't know how Toothless narrowed them down to slits, but she did know how to lower her eyelids, so she did that until she could barely even see. Then there was her teeth - baring them and growling had never been something she'd had to do, though she knew it was essential to the look as a whole, and so, she did. And that was just her face; she had to spend a few moments after that thinking about the rest of her body, including her stance, claws and tail, among everything else.

Just before she took her first step toward the edge of the forest, having done everything she had before, Astrid had an idea. Slowly, she relaxed the newfound muscles on her back, letting her wings fan out just a bit. She still hated to even think about their presence there, but she knew it would add to the effect, and aside from that, they had ached like hell since she'd woken up, and it felt amazing to stretch them.

When she finally felt ready, she started her slow crawl back to the beach.

She could hear Syl complaining about something or other before she even stepped out of the forest. Her hearing was one of the things that had improved most since her transformation - it wasn't quite an overload of senses around her, she found, but if she tried to focus on someone or something, in particular, she could hear it as though it were standing right next to her. She had experimented with this some the night before, focusing on the furthest bird, tree or other sound-making objects she could find, and each time she found the same result. It was something she knew would be immensely useful, if she wasn't bound to the ravine for the foreseeable future.

"...Gods, I must be going crazy. Must've just been Astrid… But it sounded like it was coming from…" At this point, Astrid stepped out into the sunlight once again, noticing Syl's eyes widen when she saw her.

"Was that you? No? Oh, come on, don't tell me you didn't hear that. If it wasn't you, then-"

Astrid growled. This girl would do anything to throw her off!

Syl swallowed hard, gripping her axe. "Dragon right now, huh? Guess I must've been hearing things…"

Still ignoring her, Astrid once again slowly slinked toward the girl, digging her claws into the dirt, throwing out a snarl every few seconds for good measure. Then, when she was only a few feet away, she stopped, and focused on the axe. Baring her teeth, she jerked her head toward the water. For a moment, she wondered if she hadn't gotten the message across, but the disbelief in Syl's eyes was more than enough indication that she understood.

"Y-you…" She whispered under her breath, in a growing realization, "You said… Intimidation, and…. Before, you let me… Why not n-"

Astrid snarled again, and Syl's mouth snapped shut, teeth slamming together with a sharp _click_. She looked down at the axe, then back up at her, then down at the axe. Though they were both aware of how unskilled she was with the weapon, Astrid knew first-hand how reassuring it felt just to be holding it in her own hands. On any other day, she would tell a girl like Syl to cling onto whatever weapons she had with her life, because that was likely what it would cost her otherwise. But in her haste, she had forgotten the first rule of training - the dragon has to be aware that you don't want to hurt them. Establishing your own strength was important, of course - if she didn't ensure an equal footing with the dragon, it was one more variable to be wary of. But weapons were instruments with only one purpose, in a dragon's eyes. Most dragons were fine with them once it was made clear they weren't going to hurt them, but to a wild dragon with _any_ experience fighting Vikings in the past… It was as though the thing sent off the stench of death itself, and it probably did.

Still, Syl clung onto the axe, narrowing her eyes. Astrid refused to take a step further, still snarling and snapping every few seconds when she felt it would work. After a period of time had passed long enough that Astrid was afraid she would have to break character _again,_ Syl dropped her axe on the ground. Astrid snarled again, motioning further down the beach. That was when Syl's eyes narrowed, and Astrid had to hold back a smile. This was what she was working toward - the pure sense of bottled fury reflected in the inward slant of her brows, the sneer of her lips. This was _real,_ not the joke Syl seemed to be treating it as over the past few minutes. She didn't know what exactly had triggered this reaction in the girl, but it didn't matter. This was all she had wanted.

Still scowling at her in total, passionate indignation, Syl picked up the axe again and heaved it as far as she could across the beach with a grunt. Astrid watched it as it flew. On any other day, she would've thrown anyone stupid enough to even touch her axe off of the nearest sea stack she could find, but this, once again, was a part of the training she had already forgotten about once, and couldn't ignore.

It hit the bank with a soft _thud_ , and the head and upper haft of the blade sank into the frigid water, making Astrid wince a bit, as she knew Syl probably wouldn't clean it later, or ever, for that matter. That would have to be saved for another lesson.

Turning back to Syl, Astrid finally dropped her snarling, and closed her mouth, settling for what she thought was a low, wary but curious purr - what Toothless might've done in the same situation. Some of the fear returning, Syl's eyes flashed, and for a moment, she looked ready to run, but Astrid was ready for that. Ridiculous as it might've sounded, Syl needed to be rewarded for her actions, to be shown that dragons weren't as bad once made aware that nobody had any intention of hurting them. So, still taking a step toward her every few seconds, Astrid continued to make herself less threatening, vulnerable as it made her feel. First, she relaxed her muscles, raised her head up a bit more to reveal her neck, and widened her eyes a bit, hoping they were no longer slits, if they ever had been in the first place. Then she let her ears fly back up to their normal position, straight up. After that, she slowly tucked her wings back in, which she had very nearly forgotten about in her excitement. Finally, she cocked her head sideways slightly, trying to create that curious, cutesy look only Toothless could really pull off.

But it seemed to work - Syl's muscles tensed, and she began to let her guard down-

 _Wait,_ Astrid said to herself, interrupting her own thoughts, _No, she's not supposed to let her guard down. That's not how this works._

But it was true - Syl was taking in a deep breath, raising her chest slightly, shrinking her stance, and-

And raising up an open palm.

 _No,_ Astrid thought, realizing what she was trying to do all of a sudden. _No, I hadn't thought this through! No, no no-_

But it was too late. Syl's palm was raising higher and higher, and she turned her eyes away from her, and Astrid's body was already taking over, gently beginning to guide itself into her hand. She fought against it with all her might, her mind screaming to herself, _No! NO! I can't bond with Syl! That's just plain wrong! I'm not going to be her… Her dragon! I can't! I…_

As her eyelids slid down of their own accord, she nearly gave up all hope, ready to surrender to all of these girl's stupid thoughts and memories in the moments to come, before a single thought struck her - It didn't make sense. When she had bonded with Hiccup, it had been willing. She hadn't wanted to at first, but it _was_ something she had wanted at first, but she _had_ eventually conformed to it, and it was only then that her dragon-body had taken over for her. So what had she done this time? When had she _agreed_ to this?

And so once again, she fought, and this time, she felt it - a twinge. A hesitation in her entire body, as if it was actually listening to her mind again. Mustering all her willpower and control she still had, she focused entirely on this - it felt horrible, like a thousand needles prickling along every part of her body as feeling in them returned, but she ignored it the best she could. When her eyes opened, she was confused at not seeing Syl's hand, before she realized that it must have been so close to her snout that it had completely passed out of view of her widely-spread eyes. Growling, all feeling came back like a gronckle suddenly plowing her over, and she snarled despite herself. That was when Syl risked a glance back over, probably quite surprised to find Astrid collapsing to the ground in exhaustion.

The fact that she was still a dragon had little effect on Astrid's relief of being back in control. She had never been so happy to feel her wings and tail before, and probably never would be again. Even the fact that she was panting rather than sweating didn't phase her, though it certainly felt strange.

Still looking quite surprised, Syl looked at her own palm, unaware of Astrid's struggle, wondering if she had done something wrong.

"Wh-" She began, looking up at Astrid in confusion. "What about the hand-thing?"

 **LEAVE**

Much of Astrid's strength had returned, and with it came anger, at herself more than anything. How had she been so foolish as not to think about that? She needed time to think, as well, and for that, she needed Syl gone.

"But that's, like, the most important part!" She cried. "And you, what, crumble to the ground before I even touch your forehead? What the hell was that all about?"

 **LEAVE**

"Gods, even if _I_ do everything right, you still aren't happy," Syl huffed, ignoring her again.

 **YOU DID DO EVERYTHING RIGHT**

 **YOU CAN TRAIN ALL THE DRAGONS YOU WANT**

 **CONGRATULATIONS**

 **NOW LEAVE**

"What?! No! You can't just do something like that and tell me to go away all of a sudden. What was wrong with the whole hand thing, anyway? 'You too afraid to touch me? I might not be from your fancy-britches Berk, but that doesn't make me a filthy-"

 **I SAID LEAVE!**

This time, Astrid stood up, giving a sharp growl that was threatening enough to send Syl stumbling back on her heels, nearly falling over into the dirt. With a wince, she let out a sigh, and wrote,

 **I DIDN'T MEAN THAT**

 **YOU DID FINE**

 **COME BACK TOMORROW**

 **WE'LL DO SOMETHING SIMPLER**

 **EASIER**

 **NO MORE PRETENDING**

 **NO MORE DRAGON TRAINING**

 **DEAL?**

Syl scowled, though fear still shone in her eyes. Eventually, she walked down to the beach and retrieved her axe. She whistled for Stormfly in the way Hiccup and Astrid had taught her, and a few moments later, she swooped down into the ravine. Sliding the axe into its strap on her back, she climbed onto the Nadder, muttering the whole time, "... I don't know if I want to come back tomorrow… I'm just gonna get yelled at the whole time… Some training that was, gods…"

Just before she took off, she glanced around the ravine, as though searching for something. Then she turned back to look at Astrid, a venomous sheen in her eyes.

"You know, I used to wonder what you saw in Hiccup. Now I wonder what he sees in you."

With that, she and Stormfly were gone, and Astrid was left with nothing but her thoughts as companions.


	16. The Scar

**Hello again everybody!**

 **I tried to get this chapter out as soon as I could as a sort of apology for the weeks I've made you wait before - I'm very sorry! As promised, the One-Shot I mentioned at the beginning of the last chapter is underway, and I'm very excited to release it sometime soon!**

 **FuryNight - Thanks for asking, and to answer your question, I originally started out with the hope of updating this story with a new chapter every two weeks. Unfortunately, thanks to school and other priorities, it tends to be a lot closer to three weeks, sometimes more if I'm particularly busy, or the chapter especially long. As far as the day itself I update this story goes, it was originally supposed to be Sunday nights, but once again I usually end up being late by at least a few days, and put out the new chapter whenever it's done. This is always apt to change, and it's possible that I may even put a chapter out early, but that has yet to happen.**

 **This would probably be a good time to mention - I'm willing to answer just about any questions you have about the story or nearly anything concerning my account, as long as it's not about how the story is going to end, or where the plot is headed. I can answer in a DM or in the Author's Note of the next chapter - your choice.**

 **Other than that, I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and be sure to follow for updates and leave a review!**

 **I don't own How to Train Your Dragon.**

* * *

"Nothing. There's nothing!" Hiccup threw yet another book onto his growing pile of literature in disgust and leaned back against Toothless, who purred worriedly. "Oh, how the gods must hate me. What am I supposed to tell Astrid?"

It had been over two days since Syl had decided to stay, and life in Berk had almost settled down to normal. He'd wound up using most of his time with either his father, Syl, or both, trying to help Berk recover from the storm of a few nights before. The little free time he got he had spent either in the Great Hall doing research, or flying to the ravine to check on Astrid. She kept insisting that she was fine, or at least as fine as a girl-turned-dragon with nothing to do could be.

The first night, she even asked him if he could bring back regular food for her, and while he obliged - getting even more strange faces from the main hall on his way out from those who knew his appetite - it was obvious that the food was almost repellently bland for her. He had even brought a few sweet tarts, another one of her favorites, but even that gleaned no reaction from her.

Still, she refused, saying that she would continue to eat human food for as long as she had to… Until Hiccup brought a second basket of fish with him the next night out of pity. He had tried to reassure her as she buried her face in the pile next to Toothless's that it was probably just something different about dragons and their taste buds, but she had just ignored him and told him to keep bringing more fish from that point on, and threatened to rip him in half if he mentioned a word of it to Syl, who had stayed in the Village that night.

Though he still harbored some concern, Hiccup was learning to worry less and less about Syl. Though she stayed around him whenever she could, and most people didn't seem to care, there were still times when she had gotten pulled away by some farmer needing help repairing his roof, or the twins taking advantage of the farmer's unattended livestock while he was repairing the aforementioned roof. Though he worried at first, each time she surprised him by saying, with a sigh, that it was fine, and she would catch up with him later. Although she didn't occur to Hiccup as the 'working' type - from what he could tell, she had stolen everything she had ever needed in her life until then - she seemed to do her jobs quite well when she got them, without even many complaints. On top of that, she had disappeared every morning since the day she had announced her decision to stay, to gods-knew-where. He had tried asking Astrid about it, but she'd just shrugged and changed the subject. Though he knew it was probably just because she really had nowhere else to go, he liked to think that, contrary to Astrid's opinion of her, she really was changing as a person.

Despite the fact that he had already read most of them several times over, that morning, Hiccup had woken up Toothless extra early, and they had gone to the Great Hall to collect as many titles with anything having to do with dragons in them as he could. Technically, he wasn't supposed to take a book out of the main hall without permission, never mind several at once. But he doubted anybody would notice, or really even care. After getting them, he and Toothless had flown out to find someplace private, which didn't take them long. A small clearing in the forest that cut off suddenly over a sharp ledge with a drop that led hundreds of feet into the forest below served beyond well enough - just another one of Berk's many small wonders.  
There, settling himself against Toothless as comfortably as he could, and digging into a small pouch of fruits he had grabbed in the great hall on his way out, he read, running back through every book he had, surprising himself when he began to enjoy it. It had been quite a while since he had been so relaxed - between Toothless, his father, and the rest of Berk, he barely got any time to himself, and when he did, he usually spent it working in the forge. The wind was nippy that day, but Toothless kept him warm, and he snuggled even closer to his side whenever the wind got particularly gusty, to which the dragon would purr quietly and open his wing over him to block it. _Tales of Berk Volumes 1-5, First Sightings of the Dragons, Notes and Observations from Downed, Captured and Analyzed Beasts._ Soon, Hiccup found himself getting lost in the pages as he had when he was a kid, imagining each tale told about adventures on the high seas, encounters and sightings of dragons from his ancestors and heroes of old. He even found himself going through his own. Having spent about an hour flipping through the books, however, Hiccup found exactly what he hadn't wanted, but had anticipated nonetheless.

"Nothing," he repeated, loathing the books that now sat in a small pile next to him. The excitement and magic of reading them had worn, and a chill had returned to his bones, despite the ever-consistent warmth of Toothless behind him. He shivered.

"Nothing new, anyway. There's not even anything about… About magic, except for some stuff on gronckle flight, and even that's just rumors."

Magic had all but become a myth on Berk, for as long as Hiccup could remember. Tales of witches and sorcerers were little more than stories and legends used as methods of warning for young, intolerant kids before bed. There were some skeptics on the islands and travelers from years ago whom Hiccup had heard claim all dragons were magic, as well. He only wished they were here with him now - maybe they knew something he didn't.

Feeling quite jaded, he turned folded his arms on Toothless's back, then laid his head down, staring off at the brilliant, gold-and-blue sunrise. With a sigh, he picked up his notebook again, and started leafing through it, slowly at first, then faster, and faster, until he recoiled with a sharp "Ow!" and bit his lip as a loose edge cut a thin line across his finger. He winced as a drop of red blood fell onto the page, leaving a dark, circular stain on the wingspan measurement of a Monstrous Nightmare.

He had only started trying to soak it up, when he heard a soft purr from behind him, and realized that Toothless was staring at him with those big, dopey eyes in a way only a Night Fury could. The dragon looked down at his finger, dilating his pupils slightly and ruffling the flaps between his ears, then looked back up at him, and purred again, more disturbed this time.

"Don't worry, bud, it's… Nothing. Just a little scratch," He forced a smile, but the dragon was unconvinced. With a low grumble and an odd sound that emanated through the back of his throat, he got up, turned around, and began slurping Hiccup's entire hand, making happy little warbles every few seconds. Despite a few more attempts at stopping him, Toothless persisted, and soon enough, Hiccup was rolling around on the ground laughing while Toothless continued to lap his entire body, gurgling whenever he found a spot that was still dry. Though his rough, sandy tongue would annoy and probably hurt just about anybody else, as well as leave their skin a hot red tinge afterward, Hiccup was beyond used to it, as were the rest of his exposed body parts.

When the dragon decided that Hiccup was alive and healthy, he clambered off of him with a few more concerned purrs and growls, as well as some last slurps for good measure. Hiccup was smiling when he sat up, despite the fact that his entire face felt like it had been dipped into a vat of molasses. He grinned up at the dragon.

"Gods, your dragon-healing techniques never fail, do they, Toothl-" then his eyes widened.

Toothless purred in confusion as Hiccup cut off, a wave of realization suddenly washing over his face, as though revealing an answer that had been concealed before. He grabbed the dragon's face after a moment, startling him. But his grin was even wider than before.

"Toothless, you're a genius! How did I not think about that until now? It was staring me right in the face the whole time! Gods, I was being such an idiot, Astrid already told me that… Well, she's told me I'm an idiot plenty of times, but-"

He glanced at the dragon, who seemed to be raising an eyebrow at him.

"Oh, don't look at me that way, you know what I meant! Besides, we need to go, right now! If I'm right… Well, this whole thing could be solved within the next few days!"

* * *

"So… What do you think?"

Astrid looked up at him, still somehow managing the look of utter disbelief and anger she had long since mastered before the transformation.

 **YOU MEAN TO TELL ME**

 **YOU HAVEN'T BEEN RESEARCHING**

 **HAVEN'T BEEN LOOKING**

 **YOU HAVEN'T EVEN THOUGHT**

 **ABOUT HOW IT STARTED**

 **ON MY SCAR?**

His grin dropped for the first time since he had left the cliff.

"Well, more like _hadn't,_ " he replied, glancing away, "I am now. And I just wanted to… Go over everything first. Make sure I didn't, y'know, miss anything before I started looking into…"

She narrowed her eyes.

 **YOU NEVER EVEN HEARD ME TELL YOU**

 **DID YOU?**

"No, no, I heard!" He said quickly. "I just wasn't, uh… Listening."

Astrid groaned, and he almost thought he heard Toothless snort from behind him. Great, so now he could check off "laughed at by Night Fury" to his list of amazing achievements - though it wasn't the first time, and probably wouldn't be the last.

"But I am now, and now that I've, uh, crossed out all of the other options I had, I got to thinking - healing! You got that scratch treated by Gothi, right?"

She nodded.

"Well, I'm thinking that there was probably something in the dressing she gave you, or something special about the gauze-"

 **WHAT ABOUT THE ACID?**

 **HAVEN'T YOU LOOKED INTO THAT AT ALL?**

 **SOME SORT OF MAGICAL PROPERTIES THAT HAD?**

"Well, Syl said that she didn't use anything special, at least not anything that… Hadn't been used before," - he shuddered - "and before you say it, she gave me a list of all the ingredients she used yesterday, and, well, I'm not exactly an expert on acids, but… It sounds about right."

Astrid growled.

 **JUST BECAUSE SHE GAVE YOU SOME LIST**

 **DOESN'T MEAN WE CAN TRUST HER**

 **SHE COULD HAVE MADE IT ALL UP**

 **MAYBE SHE'S A WITCH.**

"I kinda feel like we've gone over this before," he muttered, "but if you say so, I'll keep an eye on her, don't worry." As far as the girl in question went, they had already decided to take her fake bandages off two days before, as they decided nobody was likely to question whether it was really her anymore, nor take many close looks at her face. Still, that obviously didn't help Astrid's level of faith in Hiccup's plan at all.

"Anyway, I was planning on going to Gothi to ask her about what she used-"

 **THEN WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE?**

"Well…" He replied to Astrid's obvious irritation, immediately crossing out the option of asking her if she really had anything better to do than talking to him, "I just, y'know, wanted to run it by you first. See if you were okay with it, and-"

 **HICCUP**

 **YOU HAVE MY FULL PERMISSION**

 **TO DO WHATEVER YOU NEED TO DO**

 **IN ORDER TO FIX ALL OF THIS**

 **GOT IT?**

 **NOW GO**

"Uh, okay," he frowned, glancing quickly over at Toothless, who was absently swiping at fish in the lake, his tail swishing back and forth across the sand.

"There's something else, too," his voice dropped to a whisper, and he cupped his hand against Astrid's ear. "Toothless had another… Episode, yesterday. It was a little while after I woke up. I was getting dressed, and I saw he had just blanked out again. I don't know if it was before I woke up or after. Then it started. I didn't know what to do, he was just scratching his head, like the last few times… But it seemed worse, if that's possible. I tried to walk up to him, but when he saw me, he… He backed up into the corner, like he was afraid he was going to… To hurt me, or something. Then it just stopped, and he was fine again."

Astrid purred.

 **YOU KNOW HE WOULD NEVER HURT YOU**

 **AND THE LAST TIME I TRIED TO TALK TO HIM ABOUT IT**

 **HE GOT MAD**

 **REALLY MAD**

 **THEN TOLD ME HE JUST HAD AN ITCH.**

 **YOU REMEMBER**

Hiccup frowned again. He _did_ remember, and that was what worried him.

"Well, whatever it is," he looked back over at Toothless, "it _definitely_ isn't an itch."

* * *

Gothi stared up at him with a keen sort of confusion.

 **THE BANDAGES?**

"Yes," he replied. "I think it might've had something to do with her… Transformation. And while we're at it, I had some, uh, questions about that… Drink, you gave Syl-"

 **YOU MEAN THE POTION?**

"So it _is_ a potion… Which means that it's magic…" Hiccup said, a sense of wonder creeping into his tone of voice.

 **OF COURSE, IT'S MAGIC.**

 **A MAGIC POTION**

 **TO GO ALONG WITH A**

 **MAGIC TRANSFORMATION.**

 **I THOUGHT IT WAS RATHER FITTING.**

"So… You think what happened to Astrid was magic, too?" he asked.

 **I KNOW IT WAS MAGIC**

 **THINGS LIKE THAT DON'T JUST HAPPEN.**

 **THAT STILL DOESN'T EXPLAIN**

 **WHY** **IT HAPPENED.**

"Well, if the potion was… Magic, and you knew how to make that… Isn't there anything else you know about magic? Aren't there any… Tomes, or books or anything you have? There must be something…"

Gothi smiled, and for once, Hiccup realized how deeply her wrinkles were etched into her face, and he couldn't help but wonder how old she really was.

 **IF ONLY IT WERE SO, HICCUP**

 **I DABBLE IN MAGIC**

 **AS A YOUNG CHILD**

 **DIPS THEIR FEET INTO THE GREAT SEA**

 **IT IS VAST, ENDLESS**

 **STRETCHING FARTHER THAN YOU OR I**

 **CAN POSSIBLY IMAGINE**

 **EVEN THE SIMPLEST OF POTIONS**

 **TOOK ME YEARS TO MASTER,**

 **AND ARE STILL INCREDIBLY DANGEROUS THINGS**

 **TO BE DEALING WITH.**

"So," Hiccup very suddenly had the feeling of something horrible crawling up his throat, like a very, very undercooked eel. "If they're so dangerous… Then what happened to Astrid-"

 **IS MORE THAN I'D EVER**

 **WANT TO BE INVOLVED IN,**

 **GIVEN THE CHOICE.**

 **BUT SINCE YOU MADE THE DECISION**

 **TO DRAG ME INTO THIS,**

 **AND I'M JUST AN OLD WOMAN**

 **WITH LOTS OF TIME**

 **AND LITTLE TO DO,**

 **I'LL DO EVERYTHING I CAN TO HELP,**

 **OR MAY THE GODS STRIKE ME DOWN**

 **ON THIS VERY SPOT.**

She hobbled over to one of the many tables in her hut, upon which there laid a variety of herbs, spices, and plants he knew Fishlegs could probably identify with ease, as well as a selection of glasses and small bottles, some empty, some full. Many of them were clear and didn't look evil in the slightest, never mind magical, but Hiccup couldn't help but flinch when he started to wonder what some of them could do. The old woman got up after a moment, carrying a mortar and pestle over to the table next to her, before setting it back down, smiling the whole time.

 **NEVERTHELESS**

 **I ONLY WORK IN**

 **THE FIELD OF HEALING AND REMEDIES**

 **AND SO I'M AFRAID I CAN'T HELP YOU**

 **ALL THAT MUCH.**

"Well, that's why I'm here!" Hiccup replied, suddenly quite excited. "I think her transformation may have had something to do with the bandage you gave her the day she changed, from the scratch she got. I was wondering if there was anything… Different, about that. Something you - I mean _we_ \- Haven't considered?"

She narrowed her eyebrows as her smile disappeared.

 **AND WHAT MAKES YOU THINK**

 **THAT HAS ANYTHING**

 **TO DO WITH IT?**

"Well…" he started, "She, y'know… When the transformation started, she kinda said that… That it had started with the scales spreading out from the scar, but- OW!"

Hiccup's hand quickly flew up to his head, and he rubbed the spot Gothi had smacked him. Toothless stuck his head in through the doorway, and though Hiccup was able to reassure him, once again, that he was fine, he still refused to leave, in the knowledge that he might have been in danger.

 **WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THAT SOONER?**

"Well, I'm sorry," he replied, "I… Forgot to bring it up earlier, and kinda… Forgot about it altogether."

 **COMMUNICATION IS IMPORTANT, HICCUP!**

"Yeah," he muttered, "that's been kind of a recurring message today, thanks."

Muttering something unintelligible to herself, she waddled to the back of her hut, plucked a book off a shelf, and began flipping through it, leaving Hiccup shuffling his feet and clearing his throat every few seconds in the center of the room. After a moment, he walked over to stand next to Toothless. The dragon always seemed to know how to comfort him, even if it was something as simple as an awkward situation, of which he had encountered and experienced more than he could remember.

After a few moments of what Hiccup assumed was no luck, she slowly stopped leafing through the book and looked up at him. Though she still wore the frown on her face like an ugly scar, there was a twinkle in her eye he couldn't quite understand.

 **HICCUP**

 **HOW DID ASTRID GET THAT SCAR?**

"Well," he thought back to that day, and hard - Astrid had acquired a lot of scars on her own in just the time they had… Been friends. Then he remembered.

"Oh, right," he said, his eyes lighting up a bit, "I just came out of the Great Hall, Dad talked to me, Astrid was waiting outside, we talked about patrols, then Toothless-"

And then he understood.

"Gods," he looked down at the dragon, who didn't seem to understand. "Toothless, _you_ scratched Astrid!"

This must have come out quite wrong, as the dragon shrunk back a moment later, as if wounded.

"No, no, Toothless," he beamed down at him, feeling almost giddy. "It's fine, you see? Now we know! We know why…"

A sudden thought sent shivers down his spine. He spun back around to Gothi.

"But wait, does that mean… _Every_ person who's ever been scratched by a dragon's claw could just… Turn into a dragon?"

Gothi shook her head.

 **NO, I DON'T THINK SO**

 **IT COULD BE ONLY SCRATCHES FROM NIGHT FURIES**

 **BUT EVEN THAT I DOUBT**

 **TELL ME**

 **DID TOOTHLESS EVER SCRATCH OR INJURE YOU**

 **BEFORE YOU DEFEATED THE GREEN DEATH?**

"Not intentionally, no!" he cried. He was used to people asking if his dragon had ever hurt him, but Gothi, of all people? It seemed below her, unless she harbored some secret, passive-aggressive hatred toward dragons even then.

"But, he might've, yeah…" He admitted. "But it was just an accident, I swear, and he would too! He tried to grab some fish out of this basket I was carrying, and I tried to set it down, and- Well, my point is, Toothless wouldn't hurt a fly! Not most of the time, anyway." He ran his hands over the dragon's ears, receiving a purr and a happy shiver in response.

Gothi rolled her eyes.

 **I DON'T DOUBT THE HARMLESSNESS**

 **OF YOUR DRAGON, HICCUP.**

 **THE REASON I ASK YOU**

 **IS BECAUSE ASTRID'S TRANSFORMATION**

 **ONLY TRULY STARTED WHEN**

 **SHE WAS NEARLY KILLED, OR AT LEAST FATALLY INJURED.**

She pointed her staff at the metal attachment protruding from his leg. Some of the smaller pieces were beginning to rust from exposure to the elements. He'd been meaning to replace the parts for a while, but day after day he put it off. It was just… Weird, to have to work on something that was practically a _part_ of him. He couldn't imagine how Toothless must've felt - he couldn't even fix his tailfin himself when it stopped working.

 **WHAT I MEAN**

 **IS THAT IF YOUR DRAGON**

 **HAD SCRATCHED YOU THEN**

 **SURELY YOU WOULD HAVE TURNED**

 **AFTER LOSING AN ENTIRE LEG?**

"I guess…" He frowned, examining his leg as though expecting to suddenly find scales sprouting out of his skin.

 **OF COURSE, YOU WOULD HAVE**

 **SO THIS CANNOT BE THE ANSWER**

 **SOMETHING ELSE IS AT PLAY HERE**

"I mean, if you say so," he mumbled, "but that still doesn't explain, y'know… Her turning into a dragon. I've gone over all of the stuff Syl said was in the acid - not that I believe her, really, or that we can trust her-"

 **I BELIEVE HER**

Hiccup's eyes widened a bit. "You… Do?"

Gothi nodded.

 **WHETHER OR NOT SHE IS TO BE TRUSTED**

 **THIS ACT WAS A MISTAKE**

 **SHE IS TOO YOUNG**

 **AND TOO IGNORANT**

 **TO UNDERSTAND HOW TO DO THIS**

 **ON HER OWN**

 **THE ACID SHE SPILLED ONTO ASTRID**

 **WAS MERELY THE VESSEL**

 **THE UNINTENTIONAL ACTIVATOR**

 **THAT LEAD TO HER TRANSFORMATION**

"So," he replied with caution, "What you're saying is that… After she was scratched… _Anything_ that could've killed her would have turned her into… A Night Fury?"

 **IT DOESN'T SOUND RIGHT TO ME EITHER, HICCUP**

 **BUT WITH WHAT LITTLE I KNOW ABOUT MAGIC**

 **WHO'S TO SAY?**

She picked up the book she had been leafing through and closed it, but still stared at the cover with interest.

"Well," he sighed. "At least I have _something_ to go on, now. But if there really is nothing else-"

Her head snapped up as he stepped out the door, and for whatever reason Hiccup was frozen solid.

 **HICCUP**

 **WHEN YOU GO BACK TO THE VILLAGE**

 **GO TO THE GREAT HALL**

 **AND ASK GOBBER FOR THE COMPENDIUM**

 **THE** **COMPENDIUM**

 **HE'LL KNOW WHAT I MEAN**

 **IF HE DOESN'T, TELL HIM I SENT YOU**

 **WHEN YOU HAVE IT,**

 **BRING IT BACK TO ME.**

"What-" he began, before he was cut off suddenly after being shoved out the door, which was slammed shut moments later. Toothless, who'd barely had time to step back before Hiccup was practically thrown against his face, looked up at him with baleful, confused eyes, like a lamb that had lost its mother. Hiccup sighed, and ruffled his ears again.

"What a crazy woman, huh, bud?" He smiled. "Sometimes I envy you dragons. You don't have to deal with all this… Human drama. Just the open skies and… Fish, I guess. Lots and lots of fish. Doesn't sound that bad - Astrid seems to be enjoying it, anyway."

* * *

"Well then, 'iccup. Didn't 'spect to see ye down here today. Figured ye'd be out helpin' Astrid with who-knows-what. Nonetheless, always the pleasure to 'ave ye. Now, what d' ya need?"

The blacksmith grinned down at him with mismatched teeth that would unnerve the average kid, but Hiccup was long since used to it - Gobber had been his mentor and teacher for as long as he could remember, and felt like family more than anyone he was actually related to.

"Oh, y'know," he started. It was always hard to ask Gobber for things, or anyone else on Berk, for that matter. He had caused so much destruction in his life already that it would probably be a long time before he was done repaying his own debts. He could only hope that helping forge peace between the dragons and the humans would help make up for at least a small part.

"I was just, uh, over… Talking to, someone, and they told me about this book, called, uh-" Then, all of a sudden, it all felt so… _Stupid._ These ominous tidings from Gothi, talking about _magic_ of all things, and now this mysterious book and quest she had given him without any explanation whatsoever? It was ridiculous, and he started to wonder if she was just pulling one over on him. Sure, what had happened to Astrid was still completely unexplained, and what had happened to Syl did point to some sort of magic… But this whole thing was crazy! He didn't want to run around doing errands for Gothi only to find out none of it would help...

 _Then again,_ he decided, _What've I got to lose? And if she really thinks it'll help Astrid, and fix this whole mess..._

"I'm looking for a, uh, book," he started, "called… The Compendium."

Gobber shrugged, and set down a pair of tongs he had been holding to rub his chin. "Well, we have lots of those upit the Great Hall, 'iccup. Gardening Compendyum, Weapons Compendyums, Even a few Compendyum Compendyums, I think-"

"I know," Hiccup cut him off. "I've read most of those, uh, all of those, actually. I was looking for, y'know… _The_ Compendium."

Seeing Gobber's sidelong glance, he added, "Gothi sent me to get it, for… Something."

He adjusted his missing-hand-tool of choice that day - a stone mallet - and narrowed his eyes.

"Gothi sent ye, ay? Is this about that… Sickness, you say Toothless has?"

His eyes widened. "Yes! Yes, that's… That's it. She told me it would… Help, with that…"

He frowned as his mallet clicked into place. "Well then… If she really thinks it's that serious…"

"So is that what it is?" he asked, a bit too eagerly, "A book on dragons? Healing dragons? Why hasn't anyone heard of it before, then? Why haven't I?"

Gobber declined to answer, instead setting down a leather apron he had slung over his shoulder, and picking up a small flask of what was probably mead. Then he walked out of the forge.

"Wait," Hiccup asked, catching up with him, "Where are you going? I have questions!"

"Well, if you really want ta look at _the_ Compendium, we're gonna have to run it by your father first."

* * *

"No. Absolutely not."  
"But... But… Gobber?!"  
"Sorry, 'iccup. Ye heard yer father, and no means no. Right, Stoick?

"Aye," Stoick replied, looking down at his son, "I don't want you fooling around with these kind of things, not now."

"Then _when?_ "

"When you're older!" The Chief's face scrunched up for a moment, then he sighed. "You're not… Ready. Not yet."

"Ready for what? What is this book even about? What does it have that makes it so special?" He took a step forward, then retracted it.

"It's about… A lot of things, Hiccup. A lot of things we don't understand. _That's_ what makes it dangerous. _That's_ why you're not ready."

"Ready to what, read it? I _wish_ I was reading it, now - the book's for Gothi, not me!"

"Yes, but this is _your dragon_ you're worried about. It'll end up in your hands one way or another, I know it, and you know it, too. Just the fact that you know it exists now is bad enough. You're just too curious for your own good."

"Well, you're not exactly helping with all of this… Age-and-mystery-talk!"

"You're not reading this book. That's my decision. I'll see you later tonight, Hiccup. And let Toothless rest a bit. He looks tired."

He began to walk away until Hiccup blurted out, "It's magic, isn't it? It's a magic compendium."

Stoick hesitated, then turned his head back ever-so-slightly, and said, "It's a lot of things, Hiccup. It's been on Berk for generations, and it's kept under lock-and-key day and night. It's dangerous, Hiccup. You're not ready."

With that, he began to walk away again, and Hiccup, desperately afraid of losing him, cried, "Wait! I'll… I'll do it!"

Once again, Stoick stopped, and turned. "What?"

"I'll do the… The thing, that… That we talked about the other night, in the Great Hall... If you let me have the book…"

His tiny fists curled into balls, and Toothless gave a small warble of concern behind him in the sudden silence. Hiccup raised his chin as high as he dared.

"I'll go."

Stoick frowned and furrowed his brows. It wasn't too often that he saw his son like this, and he knew that he should've been proud of him - this, after all, was what becoming a Chief truly meant - compromise. Hiccup knew that, and though, once upon a time, he had wished the boy were at least like that all the time, if he wouldn't ever be strong or bold. In the past months, he had thrown away all those thoughts like rotting meat into the ocean. In his rage and anger, he had forgotten a very important lesson - the wisdom of reason, of kindness. And his son - _Hiccup,_ of all people - had been the one to teach him once again. And in relearning this lesson, he had learned something else, too. Something he had known was true from the start, but hadn't believed it until he had nearly lost it all; he loved his son just the way he was. That wouldn't ever change - not again.

But that was exactly why he was doing this - because he loved his son. If anyone could decode its secrets, it was Hiccup - he knew that better than anyone. But that was just the reason he was doing this - because he loved his son, and however sick his pet dragon was, he cared about him more. This was for his own good. But still, he couldn't just let the poor boy down...

He sighed. "Give me a few days to think about it. Then I'll tell you."


	17. The Thief

**Hello, everyone!**

 **Well, I've been holding off on uploading this chapter for a few days, because... It's been exactly one year since I released the first chapter! Over 150,000 words later, I'd say we've made a lot of progress! But don't worry - we're still only just getting started! Special thanks go out to those of you who have been here since the very beginning, and for those of you who are new, welcome! I hope you enjoy the chapters to come. Once again, thank you all for reading this fic, and be sure to follow and leave a review! It really means a lot!**

 **I don't own How to Train Your Dragon.**

* * *

"Gods, it's just so… Frustrating!" Hiccup frowned at Astrid and Toothless, neither of which seemed to be as concerned about the situation as he was.

 **IT'S OKAY, HICCUP.**

 **IT'S JUST A FEW DAYS,**

 **AND YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW**

 **WHAT HE'S GOING TO SAY YET**

"It's gonna be more than a few days…" He sighed. "Dad's hosting meetings every night for the next few days - _private_ meetings - and he's sailed out with Gobber for something he didn't even tell me about. Probably something else I'm 'not ready for,' yet."

Astrid cooed and glanced over at Toothless, who was tugging on a dead fish slightly with his gums. He knew all too well that the dragon could rip its head and spine free from the rest of its body with no more than a flick of his head - he had seen and paled at the sight more times than he could remember, much to Toothless's confusion and worry - but it seemed to entertain the dragon, for whatever reason. It relieved Hiccup, at the very least, though he knew the fish would end up in the dragon's stomach sooner or later, or, gods forbid, be offered to him as a snack.

 **ON THE SUBJECT OF SECRETS**

 **YOU SAID THAT YOU AGREED TO SOMETHING**

 **TO GET HIM TO GIVE YOU THE BOOK**

"Oh…" Hiccup's words seemed to fail him. "That was… Nothing. Just a favor he asked me for a little while ago," his shoulders slumped, "And that's probably never gonna happen, anyway. You know what he's going to say - he made it _very_ clear in our last conversation. He's just doing this to stall."

 **YOU DON'T KNOW THAT HICCUP**

 **HE COULD STILL GIVE YOU THE BOOK**

 **WHICH YOU HAVEN'T TOLD ME MUCH ABOUT, EITHER**

"Because I know about as much as you do," he groaned. "Everyone's acting so… _Mysterious_ about it. First Gothi's cryptic quest to go get it and bring it back to her, for gods know what reason. Then Gobber had to ask my _Dad_ first - he never does that! He doesn't care what I do most of the time, anyway. Why this? But then, _of course,_ my Dad tells me I'm never going to touch the book without giving it a second thought. _T_ _hat_ surprises me least of all."

Without thinking about it, he slumped down between Astrid's front and hind legs, leaning back against her side and hugging his knees. The boy was small enough normally, but curled up he was so tiny that he seemed almost infant-like. She suddenly felt the instinct to wrap herself around him, to drape her wings over him and shield him from the rest of the world, and never let anybody hurt him again. She wondered if that was how Toothless felt when he saw the small, fragile boy all bundled up like that.

"It's not just about this," he whispered, "My Dad's too afraid I'll screw everything up to ever let me do anything. With the way he's making this book sound, I could destroy the whole village with it, or worse. He'll never let me have it..."

Hiccup sighed as Astrid felt the muscles in his back relax, and the ravine fell back into its normal, tranquil state. Not sure what else to say, she laid her head down, and entertained herself for a minute or two by flicking her point of focus between the different, discrete noises flitting about around her; the rustle of leaves in the trees, the quiet _swish_ of a fish surfacing in the lake, the burbling of the waterfall. Even Hiccup's steady, rhythmic breathing helped ease some of the tension still taut and ripe in the air around them. It made her glad he hadn't brought Syl with him. Although she missed Stormfly, and didn't want her to be left unattended for very long, the girl frayed her nerves as it usually was - she knew she would probably be arguing with her that very moment if she was there.

Eventually, though, the small bits of sound weren't enough - she wasn't used to that much calmness at once, even having stayed in the ridiculously peaceful ravine for almost a week, by that point. If nothing else, _that_ would drive her to the brink of insanity - nothingness. But Hiccup beat her to it just as she raised her claw.

"S-so," he asked, obviously quite unprepared. "How're… Things?"

She jumped up a bit too eagerly, forgetting that Hiccup was there for a moment. She whipped around, but he was already up on his feet - apparently he was used to dragons suddenly getting up from behind him.

 **I'VE BEEN PRACTICING**

 **IMPROVING MY AGILITY**

 **I'M ALMOST PAST TOOTHLESS'S LEVEL, NOW**

 **IN FACT, I PROBABLY AM ALREADY**

"Wow," he smiled, turning to the Night Fury in question, "Is she really that good, bud?"

Toothless snorted.

" _That good at what? Tripping over herself and whining about it?"_

Astrid growled. " _That's a lot of big talk from a Night Fury who can't even fly on his own,"_

" _Ha!"_ He growled, snapping around to face her, " _You think you can? Try it, I dare you - that way I can say 'I told you so,' when I have to drag you out of the water, sputtering and half-dead, AGAIN."_

" _Well at the very least I could learn how. You're not ever going to get off the ground by yourself again."_

" _I doubt your pebble-sized brain could even hope to understand the basics of how flight works, you space-wasting, volatile little freak of -"_

"Stop it!" Hiccup yelled, stepping between the two. Astrid quickly realized the reason why - both of them already had their claws dug into the dirt, snarling and snapping at each other, each ready to pounce, in Astrid's case, without even realizing it. She recoiled, frowning, and Toothless raised his head up.

He rolled his eyes. "You guys had _such_ a good thing going. I guess I should've known it wasn't gonna last."

 **HE STARTED IT**

"It doesn't matter who started it," he groaned. "Guys, we can't afford to have all this hate for each other, okay? We need everyone to be committed in order to… Fix, this problem. _All_ of these problems. Astrid, it's bad enough between you and Syl, alright? Please don't go picking fights with everybody you possibly can. I know you're bored down here, but I promise I - we - are doing everything we can."

He turned to the darker of the two. "And Toothless, I expect better of you! First you… Didn't help Astrid up after she had been lying on her back for _hours,_ and now this? What's gotten into you lately, bud?"

She expected the dragon to look ashamed, cowardly - he wasn't scolded by Hiccup often, and that was usually his reaction. But instead, he only sneered, and turned around, marching as far away from them as he could, before sitting down with a huff.

Hiccup sighed, shaking his head. "Listen… I'm sure both of you are great runners, jumpers, _whatever_ you were arguing about… But try not to get into so many fights, alright?"

 **TELL THAT TO YOUR DRAGON**

"Fine, fine," he said. "I guess he's just kinda… Worn out. We all are."

He sat down, and most of the tension seemed to die once again. She would never understand how he did it - sucked the anger and bitterness out of a situation, before replacing it with a breath of fresh air. It must've been more taxing on him than she could imagine.

Hiccup sat down, laying his head in his palms.

"Is it really too much to ask?" He wheezed, putting on a weak smile. "All I want is a little peace and qu-"

"WHAT'S UP, FREAKS?"

The voice rebounded off of the walls of the ravine from somewhere up above, accompanied by a Nadder's screech a few moments later.

Hiccup groaned but didn't look up. Neither did Astrid - to give the girl any attention at all would be exactly the response she wanted, and she refused to let her have that.

Nonetheless, Syl slid down off the Nadder in an almost cheerful mood once they landed - _too_ cheerful, Astrid decided.

"Gods in Asgard," she grinned, and Hiccup finally looked up, surprised to see she was beaming at _him._ "I didn't think you had it in you. I really didn't! Hiccup, the mild-mannered Chief's son who changed his island forever. I gotta say, though, you did seem nice. A little _too_ nice. I suppose it was only a matter of time before the ways of your beloved dragons rubbed off on you."

He stood up, and Astrid unconsciously moved to stand next to him. She didn't like where this was going.

"W-What are you talking about, Syl?" He stuttered.

Syl seemed to falter for a moment, but then smiled again. "Oh, _I_ see. Too honor-bound to admit it to your girlfriend? Or were you just waiting to tell her as a big reveal? Eh, doesn't matter too much now, does it? The big secret's out - you may as well confess. So where is it? Have you looked through it yet? Is it hidden somewhere safe?"

Hiccup's brows furrowed, but Astrid couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive. Was there something he wasn't telling her? Because she almost made it sound as though he had… No, not Hiccup. He wouldn't have. Never.

"Syl, I-" he seemed at a loss for words, and so settled for raised hands in innocence. "I really _don't know_ what you're talking about. I wish I did, to be honest. Do you think you could you enlighten me, or us?"

Syl seemed a bit more perplexed now, but still continued with a smirk, "Fine, if you're not going to tell her, _I_ will."

She walked over a nearby boulder and sat down on it, like an old elder about to impart their wisdom on the young, ignorant Viking children of Berk. It was more than obvious she didn't get many opportunities as the center of attention, and she planned on picking this one dry like a dragon with a fishbone.

"Before I go on," she began, gesturing at him with more than a bit of flare, "I must say, Hiccup, I'm very proud of you. You saw an opportunity and you took it. I can respect that."

 **JUST GET ON WITH IT**

"Fine!" She grumbled. "And you think _I'm_ impatient."

She cleared her throat.

"A few days ago, after Hiccup got rejected by his father, he came to me and told me about the book, and what happened. After consoling him in the _kindest_ way I could, we went to eat dinner at the Great Hall, and ended up talking about a few things - y'know, what I've been doing around Berk, what he's been doing, that weird thing that's been happening to your Night Fury and what might be wrong with him - the norm. You know how it is, Astrid. Or should I say, dragon-Astrid?"

 _A minute into her story and I already want to strangle her,_ Astrid thought, narrowing her eyes. _That has to be some kind of record._

At the lack of a response, Syl continued, "Anyway, the conversation eventually circled back around to the book, see? This 'Compendium,' that everyone seems to be mad about lately. He told me a bit more about going to your Elder's place on the Mountain and her kicking him out, then you yelling at him - nothing really new. But then he told me something else…"

She paused, as if signifying that this was somehow important. Met with a bored silence once again, she carried on, "He told me he knew where it was, or thought he knew where it was, anyway. See, there's a locked shelf in the back room of the Great Hall that he saw once when he was younger, and his father was showing him around the place on his Birthday. He said it was one of the only things he remembered ever having a lock in the Great Hall - it _had_ to be there."

Astrid frowned. She had her suspicions, but still…

 **HICCUP**

 **IS THIS TRUE?**

"Well… So far, yeah," he replied.

 **WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THIS?**

"Well, it just kinda… Came up in conversation. It's not like it was important, anyway - I didn't do anything!"

Syl smiled at him. "Still playing it out, huh? Fair enough. Anyway, Last night, after I got done all of my chores, I decided to go… Check it out. See if he was telling the truth."

"Syl…" Hiccup replied, getting a very bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. "What did you do?"

"I didn't _do_ anything," she said. "Like I said, I just wanted to see. So I headed up to the Great Hall, found the door to the back room - it was pretty easy to find, and the lock on _that_ was a joke - and looked around. It didn't take long to find the little shelf either. The place was pretty dusty, too, lots of old relics lying around, shields, armor, weapons that looked pretty dull. Nobody had been there in years. No one, except-"

"Syl," he interrupted, his voice cracking with fear. " _Please_ don't tell me you stole The Book from the Great Hall-"

"I couldn't," she replied, "The lock was bent right off the shelf, and the case was already wide open and completely emptied. Someone had already stolen it."

* * *

"You're not gonna make any progress like this," Syl droned.

Hiccup, sitting in one of the darker corners of the Great Hall with his head in his hands, refused to acknowledge her.

"What are you even doing back here?" She asked, sitting down across from him. "Shouldn't you be reading a book, or… Riding a dragon, or something?"

"I'm thinking," came a muffled reply. He lifted his head up, and Syl couldn't help but notice there were heavy bags under his eyes. "And there isn't anything in any of the other books here that can help Astrid. Believe me, I know. And as far as Toothless goes… Well, I want to give him as much rest as possible right now, especially since…" He sighed.

"Well, moping around here _thinking_ isn't going to help at all. Assuming that you _didn't_ actually steal the book, the thief you're looking for isn't going to just pop up here at any time and say, 'Hey, heard you were looking for this, I was just borrowing it. Sorry if it caused you any trouble, hardy har.'" She said, in a burly Viking accent that could rival Hiccup's own impersonations.

"Well…" He shrugged. "Maybe. I mean, we don't even know who this person is, or… Anything. It could have been my father, for all I know. It'd make sense if he took it with him while he left - he probably knows that I know where it is."

"The lock was _snapped off-_ "

"Then maybe he lost the key," he retorted. "Brute force is a pretty common way of solving problems around here, if you hadn't noticed. Besides, what else do you want me to do? Go around asking who took it?"

Syl frowned, and glanced over to the door that led to the small back room, as if half-expecting someone to suddenly stride out of it, mystical book-in-hand.

"If you're so intent on sitting here _thinking,_ you should at least be doing it right. You're going about this the wrong way," she said suddenly, turning back to him. "You're too focused on the _what_ and not the _why._ "

He groaned. "What are you talking about?"

"Things like this don't just _happen,"_ she said, lowering her voice. "Somebody steals the book the _same day_ you ask for it from your Dad? It can't be a coincidence. Someone must have overheard you talking, and gotten scared. Scared of what? I don't know. But for one reason or another, someone doesn't want you to have that book."

"Wait," he said, lowering his voice to her own level without realizing it. "You're saying that… That this was on purpose? Because of me? Why?"

She glanced around the Great Hall again, before snapping back to him, and leaning in close - _very_ close. He might've blushed if her tone wasn't so serious. "Think about it, Hiccup. It has to be somebody here on Berk. Somebody who doesn't like you, who doesn't like your dragon, and who doesn't want you to succeed. Somebody who has the motivation to do this and the means to follow through with it."

For a moment he seemed to think deeply about it, before he gasped, clutching the table.

"Gods, Syl, you're right," he snapped his head around to face her.

"I know who it is."

* * *

The sun was setting over Berk as the two teens whispered back and forth to one another from a small rise on a hill. The hill lead up to a small, rickety old house with a few cabbage plants on the side facing them. A sheep grazed boredly on the other, letting loose the occasional _Baa_ whenever it felt the urge.

"This is him?" She asked, nodding up the hill toward the house. Though the two were lying as flat on their stomachs as they could, and both were already quite skinny, to begin with, Hiccup was still nervous they might be seen.

"Yeah, just… Keep your voice down. He doesn't seem to be home, but… Well, we don't know when he'll be back. Mildew's pretty predictable most of the time, but..."

Syl rolled her eyes, but whispered, "Fine. He wouldn't be able to hear us from here anyway, trust me. What do you expect to accomplish doing this, anyway? You said you already ruled out talking to him, so…?"

It was true - of the few options he had considered in this scenario, trying to reason with Mildew directly was one of the first he had ruled out. If the putrid sack of bones _had_ stolen the book to sabotage his plans, as well as his dragon's health, he would deny ever taking it, and there was no way he could explain to him how badly they needed it - he wasn't about to tell _Mildew_ about Astrid, of all people. And the facts did _seem_ to add up - Mildew had probably either overheard him asking for the book from his Dad, or had an informant of some kind who did, and stolen it. When his father came back, he would at least look at the safe - no doubt about it - and that would be that.

He shrugged. "I don't really know. I thought it might be good to, y'know, scout out the place. See if we spot anything... Off. We don't actually _know_ if he has the book yet - if he does, we might be able to tell if he looks suspicious. Well, more suspicious than usual, anyway.

"After that, we can go back to town and talk about where we want to go from here. I figured we'd go back to Astrid later and talk about it with her, too. We obviously can't just walk up to his door and ask for it back. That is, if he even did take it. We still don't really know, after all, so even if we were able to, I don't know, try to prove that we _weren't_ the ones that stole it to my Dad, then we'd still need evidence of some kind. Which makes me think, how did Mildew act so quickly? I mean, Dad left _hours_ after I asked him for it-"

"Hiccup," Syl cut in, squinting up the hill at the house with a frown. "Have you told Astrid about any of this yet? The book being here, us coming up to spy on this 'Mildew,' guy, leaving the beasts back in town?"

He noticed her shift her position ever so slightly, bringing her right leg up under her chest, raising her torso off of the ground and lowering her head. He might've given it another second of thought if he hadn't been distracted by her question.

"First, they're not 'beasts,' they're dragons. They have as much of a heart and mind as you and I do," he frowned. "But to answer your question... No, I haven't had the time yet. She doesn't even know we think he's the one who took it, actually. I thought we'd come here first, then go back to the ravine and tell her then-"

She nodded.

"Good."

With a start, Hiccup realized why her slight shift had seemed so odd to him. But before he could stop her, she was dancing across the field, quiet as a mouse, jumping between each shadow cast by the trees, before running out of them and sprinting the rest of the way to the house.

Panicky, Hiccup whirled around, searching madly for something or someone to help that he knew he would never find. Gods, how could he have been so blinded? The way she had tied her hair up differently before they left, the shoulder plates and armored skirt she had left back in the Village…

Of _course._

She had been planning to do this all along. And he hadn't even realized. In fact, Syl probably _knew_ he wouldn't realize - not until it was too late, at least. Otherwise, she might've changed more of her outfit, put on something besides the awkward boots that she obviously had trouble running in, and… His eyes widened. _Astrid is going to be livid if she finds out I let her run in without telling her…_

Blinking, he glanced back up at the house. Syl was inching around the corner, and Hiccup drew in a breath. Was she just going to barge in through the back door? They didn't _know_ he wasn't in there - he could've been standing right behind the door, for Odin's sake!

But just as he was about to get up and run after her, she stopped. Ever-so-nimbly, she climbed up onto a pile of rotten firewood stacked against the back of the house. For a moment, Hiccup was terrified - the pile looked prone to collapse on its own, surely putting any pressure on it would cause the whole thing to crumble, no doubt creating quite a bit of noise as well - but somehow, it held, and before he knew it, she was leaping off that to hold onto a loose board jutting out from the arch of the house. Here she paused for only a second, before making yet another massive leap to the dragon head spouting out of the back, gripping on with her hands, and swinging herself up on top of it.

Confused and bewildered, Hiccup tried to figure out what she was trying to do, until it dawned on him. There was a small hole at the apex of the roof and the back wall used to let the smoke out from the fires inside. It was tiny, but if he thought about it, he could _just_ imagine Syl slipping through it. From there, she would be in the rafters of the building, able to see everything below her. But that didn't make it any less dangerous.

Slowly, he rose up to one knee. He raised his hands up to his face and cupped his fingers around his lips, trembling. He was just about to call out to her when a small, curious warble came from behind him.

He whipped around to see a large, black face with bright green eyes peering at him from the darkness of the forest, foot frozen in midair as if asking for permission to step out.

"Toothless!" He exclaimed. "You're supposed to be back at the Village!"

The Night Fury cooed in concern. "I need you to get some rest for the next few days. You've been working hard lately."

He cocked his head sideways like he didn't understand.

"Oh, don't give me that face," Hiccup whispered snappily, rolling his eyes. "You know what I said. Come on, we need to get back, soon. I don't want to risk anyone seeing you out here, or me, for that matter. And Syl…"

He glanced back again at the house just in time to see her swing herself into the tiny gap, and disappear from the rest of the world.

He sighed, shaking his head in disbelief. "Well... I guess we'll find her later. I hope so, anyway. Who knows? Maybe she'll even have the book."

As they started back down into the forest together, Hiccup thought of something.

"Hey, bud?" The Night Fury turned to him, wide eyes eager and intrigued.

"Don't tell Astrid about all this yet, okay? You… Well, you know how she is."

The dragon purred in agreement, and Hiccup smiled.

* * *

Syl grinned to herself as she swung into the top of the house, the struts holding the roof together creaking slightly under her weight. But it didn't alarm her in the slightest - this was something she was more than used to. It wasn't the warm air in the rafters, nor the bird's-eye view of the entire that made her so relaxed, she knew - there, she was in her element, her home. It had taken her _years_ to practice entering people's houses like that. It started as a mere curiosity of how far she could push and challenge herself, around the same time she started stealing food when her mother couldn't provide enough to keep her fed, or be bothered to care, anyway.

Indeed, she was more at home perched on those beams than she had been anywhere else on Berk - or in her own far-away house, for that matter.

She tiptoed along the central beam, staring down over each side at the dimly-lit room below. Part of the house was obscured from view, due to a back room with a proper ceiling that served as a small loft above it. On the walls above and around the door were several round paintings on shields of some sort of creatures she couldn't make out until she moved closer and realized they were women. But for all the strange details she observed in the house, there was one thing she _couldn't_ see - the book.

She wasn't sure _what_ she was looking for, anyway. For all she knew, it could just be a plain, bland old book like the rest of them were - she hadn't _seen_ it herself, though in her head she had imagined it as having some sort of obvious significance - maybe it would glow, or twinkle, smoke would come out of it every few seconds. She didn't know, but given the way everyone else seemed to be treating it, she figured it was at least _somewhat_ recognizable.

For a moment, she considered leaving - she wasn't really willing to risk getting caught down there, not when she didn't even know where the book was, or had a plan of escape.

 _Maybe Hiccup had been right in trying to stop me…_ She frowned. _Maybe he was right. I've never been here. I don't know any of these people. Hell, I don't even know what I'm looking for!_

She turned, starting for the hatch she had come through, until…

No.

No, she wouldn't just _leave_. She wasn't being truthful to herself - Hiccup hadn't wanted her to go in there, that was obvious enough, but he hadn't tried to stop her, either. That could only be for one reason - he believed in her. For some reason that even _she_ couldn't understand, the stupid boy trusted her, enough to let her sneak into the house of one of his worst enemies on the island to steal a book they weren't even sure was there. Because he thought she could do it. Because she could do it.

Because she _would_ do it.

Determined, she inhaled as deeply as she could, then slowly let out her breath. She would not come back empty-handed. It would be a blow to her reputation and ego, and she owed it to Hiccup for letting her do as much as she had, reluctant as she was to admit it. On top of that… Giving up was what her mother always expected her to do. What the Village she had grown up in had always expected from her - to give up, if not never give an effort on anything in the first place. Her brother was the only one before Hiccup to ever believe in her, to encourage her. It was time to prove the rest of them wrong. For Hiccup... And her brother.

That was when she heard muffled voices from outside the door. Rather than freeze up, she simply receded a bit further into the shadows - though it was unlikely they were going to look up, the light from below still put her at more risk than she would have liked. Aside from that, there was still no way she was leaving - she was perfectly well hidden as it was, and whoever was out there could help her to identify where the book was. Most people tended to be quite relaxed and open when in the comfort of their own homes, something she had learned when she was much younger.

After a minute of listening, she was able to identify two distinct voices from just beyond the door, neither of which she could make out any words from. One was as Hiccup and Astrid had described - craggy and gnarled, like an old tree that should have died off in a storm years ago. The other, however, was much deeper, yet somehow almost familiar. She wondered who it was.

It seemed odd that there were two, to begin with, as well. This "Mildew" character seemed to be pretty solitary, and given his openly unpopular opinion on the island, it didn't seem like he was the kind of person to entertain a lot of visitors. But that wasn't what she was there to worry about, and so she dropped it.

All of a sudden, the voices stopped, and the silence that followed was interrupted by the sound of a lock turning, before the door swung open, letting the last of the sun's light for that day seep in around two silhouettes standing in the doorway. She couldn't make out either of them - the middle board was blocking most of her view, and she didn't dare step any farther forward than she already was.

The conversation seemed to continue, then, as Mildew said, "You're _sure_ your boat was hidden?"

This was followed by silence, but Syl assumed the other must have nodded, as he continued, "And you're here alone? Nobody else? You weren't followed?"

This was preceded by yet another silence, but Mildew continued, "Very well. I suppose you'll be wanting what we agreed upon?"

A grunt came in reply.

"Well, then. The gold?" There was the soft clinking of metal, and Syl realized an exchange of some kind was taking place. A boat? An agreement? Gold? It didn't make any sense. Mildew had stolen the book to frame Hiccup, hadn't he? Was he trying to get rid of the evidence? If so, it made sense to get a little gold from it while he was at it, but why did the person he was selling it to need to a boat to get there?

A shadow danced on the wall, and wood squealed under crooked footsteps as Mildew disappeared into the back room. She heard a few more, much heavier footfalls in the front room, as the second party moved around, no doubt observing the strange pictures on the shields that had surprised her earlier.

After what seemed to be quite a bit of rummaging around in the back room, accompanied by a fair share of clatters and objects hitting the floor, Mildew walked back out into the main room, mumbling something or other to himself.

"... A handful of gold. Don't care if he had to paddle halfway across the sea for this." He raised his voice, talking directly to the other person then. "You hear me? I had to go through a lot of trouble to get this too, y'know! Funniest thing - the damned boy's dragon's sick, and he went askin' his father for this book the night you sent word of wanting it! Now, when his father get's back, he'll probably think _he's_ the one that stole it! Isn't that a story to tell? Ha!"

This was met with silence.

"Very well, then. Here it is - The Compendium. Handed down to Berk's Chieftains since they settled here. Nasty old bugger, this. Dangerous things are written in here, dangerous things I'd rather not be involved with. But if you really think it'll help your cause… Just remember, when the day comes, _I'm_ the one that got this for you. Don't forget that."

It was at this point that Syl's curiosity was nearly overwhelming. She _had_ to know who this was. Something was just _there,_ in her mind, trying to tell her, to warn her that she should be very concerned about who this was, about whatever was happening in that house. And getting the book now involved whoever this was, too.

Ever so slowly, she crept forward, just a little bit further, further, further. If she just _peaked_ around the beam, they wouldn't see her. She would only need a glimpse - for some reason, she got the feeling that she knew this person, and the feeling to see who they were was even more overwhelming.

 _Just a little bit further… And I'll be able to see…_

"'Here you go. 'Bout time we get rid of those blasted dragons. I only wish this wasn't what it took, but Stoick isn't willing to listen to reason, and probably never will be again. He was a good man once - a good Chief. Spare him after they lose, will you? I have some words for 'im, and his bloody, dragon-obsessed son, as well."

Syl didn't hear any of what he said. Because she had seen who it was. She had seen who it was, and she wished she hadn't.

It was _him._

The man who had ruined her life.

The one whose name she cursed with every breath she took.

The man who had betrayed her,

The old, fat drunk who didn't give a damn about anyone's life but his own,

who had left her on that godforsaken island to rot and die, by her own mother's orders.

It was Bjarke.


	18. The Liar

**Hey, everyone.**

 **I promise you - I had every intention of getting this out by Thursday, but I oh-so-conveniently got what seems to have been food poisoning the day before, and I have only just been able to function at all since then, never mind work on writing and uploading this story. Regardless, excuses are excuses, and you all have my sincerest of apologies. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and be sure to leave a review and follow for updates.**

 **All the best,**

 **~RS**

 **I don't own How to Train Your Dragon.**

* * *

Syl didn't know what to do.

 _It's me,_ was her first thought, once she could think straight again.

 _He's here for me. He knows I'm here, and he's going to kill me, or take me away, or… It doesn't matter. He must have known I would be here. Somehow, he, he… That's why he's been so quiet. He's just been waiting for his moment. Waiting…_

She swallowed hard. _I should just go down now. If he was able to find me here, he'll be able to find me anywhere else I go, it doesn't matter. I should just... Surrender now and get it over with… If I try to run, he'll just find me again, and again, and… Gods, How did he know? How?!_

Defeated, she looked around the rafters for a point she could climb down from. It didn't take her long to spot one - with her experience, they were usually quite easy to find. She was about to put her foot down onto it when she blinked.

 _What am I doing?!_

While she was still scared and confused, she was right about one thing - it _didn't_ add up. Hiccup and Astrid had gone through way too much planning for someone to be able to find out where she was that easily, not to mention the precautions she had taken on her own. And even if Bjarke _had_ somehow figured out their ruse, there was no way he would have been able to track her to _that exact location._ Even Hiccup hadn't been ready for her to run into that house - she had never even uttered a word of her personal intentions aloud. Finally, she couldn't even imagine what Bjarke would want with her, anyway. He had _left_ her there, abandoned her. He had threatened that she would be killed if she returned, sure - but she hadn't done that. _He_ had come _there_ , and unless her mother had given him an order to sneak back to kill her own daughter, which she very much doubted, she had no other quarrel with him that she could think of. She couldn't even remember ever stealing anything from him, not that she really kept track of the pockets she picked or the houses she robbed.

And so, the most unlikely answer was somehow also the most logical one - this was one bizarre, crazy, and downright ridiculous coincidence. _He probably thinks I'm about dead by now,_ Syl thought with a smile. _Guess I'm proving him wrong. He made a HUGE mistake in letting me go like he did. And he will pay for that mistake. He WILL pay..._

And, in a second, the terrifying confrontation she was met with became a golden opportunity. _She_ had the upper hand, here. Unbeknownst to the two morons below, she was watching over all, seeing everything that happened with not a single consequence. At least, not yet.

It was her chance - her chance for _revenge,_ granted by the gods themselves to her. She had known in her heart it would come one day - she just hadn't thought it would come so soon, nor so _perfectly_.

And it _was_ perfect. There was no Hiccup here to dissuade her, no Night Furies to scare her out of doing it, no fake friends, phony parents or strangers she had to keep up an appearance around - just her. And even if they _were_ there, what would they care? This man was their _enemy._ Hiccup would probably turn his cheek; Astrid might even _approve_ of it. Not that she would ever have to tell them, anyway.

Grinning, she scanned the rafters for something - _anything -_ to use as a weapon. A mace or a boulder would have been preferred, but she knew the likelihood of finding either of those in the rafters of some old man's house was less than slim. Instead, she searched for a loose board, a small bucket of nails - the entire house reeked so much of mold and dead termites she was surprised it hadn't fallen in on itself already.

But, oddly enough, even after she tugged as hard as she could against the beams around her, not a single one so much as budged. Cursing, she glanced down into the house, where the two men still stood. Seeing Bjarke leaf through the book would have made her laugh any other day - she doubted he even knew how to read - but at the moment it posed as a complication more than anything. Without a doubt, he would eventually grow wary of staying on the island and leave, and her chance would vanish like a wave being swept back into the sea.

Grimacing, she retraced her steps from climbing up into the rafters, trying to remember anything - _anything -_ that she could use. There was the pile of firewood outside, but most of it was so decayed and rotted that she doubted it would do much more than crumble in her hands. She thought she could recall seeing a long-rusted axe leaning against the house, but that was a big risk, and if she was trying to be at least slightly inconspicuous, an axe falling from the upper beams of the house _directly_ onto Bjarke's head would give Mildew more than enough reason to doubt that faulty architecture and poor maintenance were to blame.

Not that she had given much thought to getting out of the situation, anyway - what mattered then was _revenge_ , and revenge alone. The consequences she could come to terms with later on, and she had gotten out of bad situations in the past. However… She hadn't ever _killed_ anyone, either…

That reminded her - if she was going to do this, she would need to make sure it was a successful attempt. As was the tradition in their tribe, Bjarke had taken his helm off upon entering the house, but even with that benefit, a loose board to the head would feel like little more than a feather to him, she knew. Whatever the object was, it would have to be heavy. _Very_ heavy. It wouldn't hurt if it was sharp or spiky, either…

And she knew just the thing to use.

Rushing back to the open hole in the back of the room, she poked her head out, and looked straight up.

Sure enough, the crumbling, wooden dragon's-head she had used to swing into the house was still attached to the apex - but only just. Her hanging from it earlier had loosened it, and added on to the fact that it was already as corroded as the rest of the house, she knew she could get it. If she could only tug on it a little…

Frowning, she reached a hand up above her head, grasping for the head as far as she dared. Still, it wasn't quite enough. Still crouched within the house, she could barely see above her, and the higher she thrust her hands, the more she could feel herself leaning outside of the building, closer and closer to a tumble all the way down to the ground. It would hurt, but what mattered was the attention it would draw from the two idiots inside. They might not recognize her for who she really was - she was still wearing most of Astrid's costume, and spoke with her voice - but it wouldn't matter. Whatever this was was serious business. They couldn't and _wouldn't_ risk releasing somebody they knew had overheard them - not alive, at least.

With a huff, she climbed back inside the house. It was settled; she _had_ to use the dragon's head. She was committed. The question only remained of how to get it.

Eventually, she laid down, stretching her body down the length of the center beam, from her legs to her head. It was a good thing she hadn't brought Astrid's full armor, she realized - aside from being loud, it would've made the whole ordeal incredibly uncomfortable, if not also nigh on impossible.

Syl glanced back down into the house. Mildew seemed to be getting impatient, but Bjarke still stood near the door, flipping through the book, raising his eyebrow at something or other every few pages. Still, he was growing closer and closer to the end of it with each huff of confusion, and she knew her mother would want to give it a more thorough examination back on their island, assuming she _had_ ordered him to get it.

This book seemed to be growing more and more important with each passing second, which might've made Syl equally curious if she wasn't so caught up in her almost feral, mad drive to… To take her revenge. Killing was a word she was reluctant to use in the situation; it tasted foul and bloody on her tongue, and besides… _Killing_ him didn't seem to fit, here - this was _payback,_ an equal exchange as much as the one that was already taking place below.

She ripped her eyes away from the men below, trying not to think about them too much.

 _Focus, Syl._

Gripping her hands onto the top board of the frame of the smoke vent, she counted to three in her head, before pushing her weight against it. As she did, her shoulders, head and upper chest slid out, and she once again felt the cool Berk air nipping against her exposed skin. It was no matter - she was a Viking. She was a Viking, and…

She could do this.

Clenching her teeth together as tightly as she could without them cracking under the pressure, she lifted the upper half of her body up, feeling as though her intestines were going to snap with the knot she felt around her stomach. In the back of her mind, she almost thought she heard Astrid's annoying voice, telling her she had to exercise more if she was to keep up with her routines and appearances. Even more aggravating was the fact that, although she had only actually listened to her speaking once or twice, she was forced to hear her every time she opened her own mouth - and that was the voice she heard then.

Still, the position was more comfortable and flexible than her previous one than it had been before, and soon enough she could feel the pointy teeth of the wooden dragon's head brushing against her fingertips. With one last stretch of her arms, followed by a grunt she did her best to muffle, she had her hands locked around the top of it.

Then she tugged. She pulled, and tugged and wrangled with it like two Vikings with the last drumstick at a feast. Though it was rotted by pests, as well as the harsh climate, it still held fast. After all, it wasn't just an ornament - it was practically a part of the house, extending straight out of the supporting beam holding the entire building together.

 _Come on, just a little bit more,_ she thought, narrowing her eyes. The evening had grown dark, and with only a sliver of sunlight over the ocean, it was almost impossible to see anything at all. The light coming from inside of the house provided more visibility than any natural luminescence already.

 _Gods, I can feel it cracking,_ she thought. _Just a little bit farther. Just a little bit-_

There was the sound of splintering wood, and Syl barely suppressed a yelp as the head tore loose from the wood. Fumbling, she did her best to support its weight, surprised by how heavy it was. Clutching it to her chest, she relaxed her muscles, and her breathing slowed - but she wasn't done yet. No, not nearly.

Determined, she laid down parallel to the beam, hugging the dragon's head against her chest like it was the only thing she valued in the whole world - and, in truth, it was. Revenge was the sole thing she had left to live for, and by the gods, she swore she would get it, lest she forget what and who had gotten her stuck on that detestable island.

As she dragged herself back inside, she had a moment to stare down her length at the wooden figure still sitting on her stomach. The paint was chipped corroded to the point where it was hard to say if there had ever really been any at all. Still, it was obvious that there had been some effort put into it once, but not much. Much of the lower half of the mouth had rotted or fallen away, letting the spikes formed by the top of the mouth poke through the fibers on her blouse and into her skin. _Even better,_ she thought.

Yet oddly enough, as she sat back upon the beam, she felt a trace of doubt growing in the back of her mind. Grinding her teeth, she chastised herself. No, she couldn't back down now. Why would she? It was perfect, _perfect._

With a nod, she crawled forward along the beam, the dragon's head weighing heavily in her left hand, setting her off balance. Soon enough, however, she had arrived at the spot - Not directly above, but near, the two men below. If she moved any farther forward, the light from the small, dwindling fire would be visible, and they could see her by doing no more than glancing up. But she didn't need to drop it. She would lob it - _hard._ The man had a thick skull in more ways than one, and Vikings didn't just go down that easily. And if she _didn't_ throw it hard enough...

She swallowed. _Maybe I shouldn't be here. Maybe I should just-_

 _NO!_ She screamed back at her mind. Why was she so hesitant about this? It was everything she had wished for since she set foot on that island.

Taking a deep breath she raised the carving above her head, expecting them to react somehow. Mildew kept on talking, and Bjarke didn't so much as blink.

She let out her breath.

It was perfect. So perfect…

 _Too_ perfect.

No, she knew this wasn't a trap. And she knew she could do it, too.

Sure, she could run as soon as she dropped it, but the dragon's head wouldn't have made it from the end beam of his roof to Bjarke's head alone. Mildew would know someone was there, and he would know someone dropped it - but he would also know not to tell anyone. Given his shifty nature, she knew he would be smarter than to go crying to Berk about him. This man was an enemy, after all - and Mildew had consorted with him, _traded_ their _secrets_ to him. No - he would be better off dumping his body in the ocean, keeping the gold, and forgetting it had ever taken place. Still, he might try to make chase, but given the fact that he needed a staff to lean on half the time, and was somehow even bonier than Hiccup, she doubted he would make it more than a few feet out of the door before she was gone.

It wasn't her abilities that made her stop - she knew she could do it, and she knew she could probably get away with it if she tried. Even in the worst situation, she would be able to find her way out of it.

What mattered here… Was justice.

She wanted to. She _so_ wanted to, and she knew it would be exactly what the bastard deserved. She had the means to carry it out right there in her hands, and no one would know, but…

But it was nothing new. Of course, she had never _killed_ a man, nor any creature she could remember. But hiding in the lofts and rafters of houses? Carrying out dirty tricks, stealing and even considering _murdering_ those that couldn't see her?

To Hiccup, or Astrid, they might've been shocked - as much as the girl seemed to hate her, she had never seen her in her element, and neither had her scrawny boyfriend. But to anyone back on her tribe, to Bjarke, to her _mother,_ this would be exactly what they expected. To live like a coward, and _kill_ like a coward. There would be some sadness, perhaps some shock at his death, but if they were ever to find out that the blow was dealt by _her hand…_ Not a soul would be surprised in the slightest. "Typical," they would say, "Always knew she was a traitor, and a wimp of a traitor, too. Couldn't even be bothered to face him herself."

She couldn't do it.

Not here.

But this didn't mean she planned on _quitting_ her tactics, either, and he would still get what he deserved - but on different terms. She didn't have the power or the fighting skills to take her mother or Bjarke on in single combat; she knew that. Even with hours upon hours of ruthless training from Astrid, she could never hope to best either of them alone, never mind with an entire tribe at their backs. But still, she _needed_ to prove them wrong. To show them openly that they didn't know everything about her, about her life, or herself.

She would never gain their complete trust again, she knew that much - she had lost that chance long before she set foot on that island, if she'd ever had a chance in the first place. But to show them up, to prove them wrong, to _humiliate_ her mother and Bjarke in front of everyone that had ever looked up to them… That was the revenge she wanted. And she _would_ get it - she knew she would.

Just not today.

With a sigh, she let the arms back down to her knees, the carving falling with a soft _thump_ onto her knees. She shifted awkwardly, realizing how tired she was. She was about to set the head down until there was a heavy slap of pages below her, making her jump. She glanced back down into the room, to see the burly man picking up his helm.

Bjarke was leaving.

He was leaving with the _book._

With a start, she remembered why she was there in the first place. In her immature and reckless plan to take her revenge, she had forgotten - she had a job to do.

Panicking, she looked around, - _Gods,_ how was she so _stupid_ \- searching for something to stall him, to stop him from leaving, before she came to rest on the figure in her hands. Her eyes widened.

As quickly as she dared, she crawled to the vent at the back. With one last glance back into the house, she stuck her head - and the carving - outside once again.

She was going on a whim, here; they might not hear it, and even if they did, there were a host of other problems that could arise. On top of that, she would only have one shot.

 _So I'd better make it count._

Sucking in her breath, she raised the head up to eye level once again, then _hurled_ it down at the pile of rotting wood leaning against the back of the house. The wooden carving collided with the stack, forcing it to collapse with a satisfying _CRUNCH._ Some logs rolled beyond the house, but not many got so far. Most simply fell apart as soon as the pile fell, their structural integrity long-since compromised. She had achieved her goal, but the question still remained; had it been enough?

Ducking her head inside, she looked back down into the house, and smiled.

"'t was that? You said you checked the house-" Bjarke was saying.

"I swear I did!" Mildew yelled.

He snorted and started to step past him, toward the back door. "Guess you were wrong, then."

"Ah, ah," He chided, pointing at the book still in Bjarke's hand. "Not so fast. You're not taking a _step_ out of this house until I get the second half of my payment, ye' hear me? Leave it here."

He narrowed his eyes. "You think this is some kind of trick? Half of the people on this island want me _dead,_ and the other half want _you_ dead, from what I've heard. _I_ haven't brought anyone, old man."

Still, Mildew did not budge.

"Fine, ye' bastard," he sneered, throwing the book on a table. "You get your wish. Now come on, before I lose what little patience I have left for ye'."

The two walked outside, and Syl gave a silent cry of joy. This was her chance - but she didn't have much time.

Lithe as a cat, she sank down into the house beam-by-beam, until her feet landed the floor with a soft creak. She glanced out to the door, but the two were preoccupied with looking for something, and as she had expected, neither had the thought to look back inside.

She rushed over to the table and picked up the book, surprised at how light it was. A quick glance at its cover confirmed what she had seen from above - it was leather bound, and obviously very old, with the cover peeling at the seems, and the pages frayed and uneven from years of reading. That seemed _really_ weird, since, from what she could tell, it had been in that safe for _years._ The book was also quite large, and despite its weight, it took both of her hands to hold it.

With a grunt, she shoved the book underneath her shoulder, and was about to turn to the door and bolt-

She stopped.

Bjarke's helmet was still lying on the table.

 _He must've set it down when he went outside,_ She thought. And it seemed a shame to just… _Leave_ it there.

Of course, she hadn't changed her mind - her true payback would still come another day. But it couldn't hurt to leave a warning - a calling card, of sorts.

She thrust her hand into her pocket, hoping to find something to write with - a small knife, or even a splinter of wood would be enough for her to carve a message into the leather lining of his helmet. But instead, she found something else.

A piece of paper was crumpled up into a tiny ball in the depths of her pocket. She pulled it out, trying to remember where she had gotten it. Hiccup, maybe? No, she would remember him giving it to her, he was far too shy to do sneak it into her pocket, anyway. What would he do that for, anyway? Astrid was already crossed out for _multiple_ reasons.

Was it the twins? They seemed like true pranksters, she had learned that, but this wasn't large-scale enough for them, either. Snotlout seemed realistic - he occurred to her as the kind of person that might slip a love note under her door. But that didn't explain how it got into her _pocket._

As soon as she unfolded the paper, she remembered.

It was a symbol she had grabbed off of Hiccup's workstation in the smith a few days ago. It had looked interesting, so she decided to borrow it - she had always had a bit of an admiration for drawings and sketches, which made Hiccup's workshop a quintessential Valhalla for the more creative half of her mind. In her defense, she told herself, it was only a matter of time until she _borrowed_ something from him.

She had only a moment to look at it - some sort of fancy gray circle in the shape of a 'C', with a few lines and shapes running off of it - before she stuck it in his helm, and headed for the door. It would have to do.

* * *

After a thorough sweep of the area, Bjarke walked back into the house, followed by Mildew, who was holding the remains of a wooden dragon head in one of his hands, looking quite triumphant.

"Old bugger was bound to fall off someday, I suppose. This whole place is falling apart. Made quite a crash, though, I wonder what-"

Bjarke stopped in his tracks, forcing the old man to stop.

"Mildew," he said. "Where did you put the book?"

"What're you talking about?" He complained. "I'm a man of my word. _You_ were the last person holding it, and a bit reluctant to let it go, if my memory serves correctly."

"Aye, and now you know why," he growled, pointing at the table.

Mildew followed his gesture, trying to see what he was going on about, before his eyes widened in shock.

The book was gone.

He rushed to the table, bent down to his knees, and began throwing aside any object he could find around the table in a mad frenzy. \

"Gods, damn you!" He cursed. "Trespassers, thieves! I should've known."

He whirled on Bjarke. "Is this your doing, man? Is this some kind of trick?!"

"No," he shook his head. "But it matters not. I've seen what I needed - what _Brenna_ needed. And if someone saw me - saw _us -_ it's best I leave as soon as possible. But since you couldn't deliver the book safely…"

He crossed to the other side of the house, and picked up the gold he had deposited on the table earlier, and attached it to his waist. Mildew just stared on, muttering nonsense about burglars and dragons. "I'll be taking this, and-"

He frowned as he reached for his helmet. A small piece of paper was sticking out of the top, with something scribbled onto it.

He snatched it up, and stared at it for a moment. Then he handed it to Mildew.

"This mean anything to you?" He asked.

Mildew grabbed the paper, his mustache wiggling in annoyance, before his eyes softened.

"Yes," he said, "Yes… I believe I have… If only I could remember where…"

Bjarke's eyes furrowed as the room settled into silence. The embers of the fire had burnt down to almost nothing since he had first gotten there. Still, it provided just enough light for the two to see each other's faces.

"There's something ye' should know," he said, in the lowest, deepest undertone he could manage. "There's a girl we think has run away to your island - gone traitor from us. She could be anywhere, at any time. Has anybody had food go missing lately? Had any valuable goods stolen? I know you have ears in the town."

"What's 'er name?" Mildew asked, his eyes set on the drawing.

"It doesn't matter," he spat. "She'll blend in anywhere - in the woods, on the mountain - harder to spot than a white fox in winter."

"You think she did this?" he asked, still not looking up from the paper.

"Don't know," he said, his brows somehow furrowing even further. "This dragon-infested island of yours is full of crazies, from what I've heard."

"Mhm," he replied, with a nod. "Dragon-infested… Dragons… Dragon… That's it!"

He slapped the paper with his free hand.

"That's what?" Bjarke demanded. "Speak, old man!"

"The symbol - it's something that damnable boy designed. I remember seeing it sewn onto his clothes a few weeks ago."

Bjarke sneered. "Well, what is it?"

"A Night Fury," he cursed. "His symbol for a Night Fury."

* * *

Astrid was only just getting hungry when Hiccup arrived - on Toothless's back, shooting out of the sky and toward the ground, before he let his wings out at the last possible moment, circling the ravine and landing as gracefully as a dove. She couldn't help but to marvel at it - she had seen them pull the maneuver off hundreds of times before, but to think that _she_ could do that with her wings-

 _No,_ she thought, letting out a growl. _I can't think like that. That's how I turn full dragon, and I don't plan on letting that happen anytime soon._

She shook her head, trying to refocus, but it was too late - her mood had already gone sour.

Glancing up at the sky, then back at Toothless, she noticed something was wrong immediately.

 **WHERE'S SYL?**

Hiccup froze in his tracks, his casual smile replaced with what almost looked like terror for a split second, before it disappeared.

"She's… Busy. In the village," he replied.

 **HICCUP**

 **IF YOU'RE HIDING SOMETHING FROM ME**

"I brought fish," he interrupted, pointing a thumb behind him. She saw he was right; two large baskets were attached to the saddle's sides, and immediately, her mood brightened. Then, seeing Toothless panting heavily, she felt a new emotion, one of the others she had come accustomed to of late; guilt.

" _Uh, Toothless,"_ She asked, not wanting to apologize to him, but not insult him, either. There was really nothing she could do for him, but she felt as though he deserved _something_ \- praise, or recognition, at least - though she wasn't sure what was customary among dragons, or if they even exchanged approval at all.

" _How… How heavy are those?"_ She forced herself to turn away when he looked up at her.

" _Heavy,"_ he began, " _But not as heavy as you."_

She snapped her eyes back to the dragon, to see him grinning.

" _Yeah, well,"_ she sneered, trying to think of an insult. When none came, she settled for a threat. " _Just be glad you've brought fish to me. You wouldn't like to see me otherwise."_

Hiccup unlatched the baskets from his saddle, Toothless giving sighs of relief as each of them dropped to the ground. Then he opened one onto the ground, and dragged the other over to Astrid.

"Alright," he said, fiddling with the latch. Astrid stared at it - she could already taste the fish on her tongue. Sweet, wet, slippery as it dropped from her tongue down into her stomach...

He frowned, jiggling the latch harder, but it wouldn't budge. Astrid's eyes widened as she licked her lips - or where her lips were supposed to be. She felt like she might rip the basket apart soon herself if he didn't get it open.

"Come on," he said, pounding on the latch with his tiny fist. Gods, was he teasing her? If so, this was the cruelest punishment he had ever delivered - and this was _Hiccup_. She wanted the fish so badly, _needed_ to feel them resting in the pit of her stomach. The thought was overwhelming. She felt drool drip out of her mouth...

"Gah!" Hiccup yelled as the hatch burst open, the basket falling over and fish spilling all over the ground.

Astrid didn't hesitate. She pounced on the fish, slurping up four in her first attack, and swallowing them as quickly as she could. Then came another wave, then another, then two more, three…

" _Astrid,"_ Toothless warned. " _Don't eat so fast, or you'll-"_

She stopped. Something was wrong. The fish tasted as good as usual - there was no denying that - but it felt… Different, as they traveled down her throat. Almost like they went somewhere else…

Something was wrong.

The fish tasted as good as usual - there was no denying that - but it felt… Different, as they traveled down her throat. Almost like they went somewhere else…

She got the feeling she did whenever she swallowed water too fast and it went down her windpipe. But this still wasn't the same - she didn't quite get the satisfactory feeling she had whenever she ate food. Instead, it felt more like the food was going into her lungs… Or her heart…

" _Toothless!"_ She cried, forcing him to look up at her from his own pile of fish. " _Help! What's happening to me? It feels like it's going into my… Heart, or something."_

He tilted his head to the side, in a similar fashion to what Hiccup did whenever he heard rumors of a new dragon sighting.

" _Your… Heart? Right into your heart?"_

" _Well... No,"_ she admitted. " _More like… The opposite of where it should be. On my right."_

" _Hmm,"_ he snorted. He walked around her once, analyzing her, and then once again.

Then he fell over, laughing.

" _What?"_ She asked, noticing Hiccup look up from his journal out of the corner of her eye. " _What's so funny? This isn't very comfortable, you know."_

He kept laughing in his gurgly, Toothless laugh, trying to send a few words every few seconds, but failing. " _Ah, you… The fish, and… Your crop… The fish are in your… Haha…"_

" _My what?"_ She demanded. " _What's a… Crop? Why are there fish in there?"_

He didn't respond. She stomped her foot on the ground. " _Toothless!"_

With a few last snickers, he got back up on his feet, still grinning. " _Your crop, it's… It's a pouch used to store food, so you can give them back to your hatchlings. Food won't digest in it, unless you move it down to your lower stomach."_

" _Lower… I have two stomachs?"_ She thought, then walked over to Hiccup, who was still watching them.

 **DID YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS?**

"About… What?" He asked.

 **DRAGONS HAVE A SECOND STOMACH**

 **USED TO STORE FOOD**

 **HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF ANYTHING LIKE THAT?**

His eyes widened. "No, I… You have a second stomach?" He stood up. "Gods, that's amazing! That answers so many questions about-"

 **NEVER MIND**

She looked back at Toothless, paw raised in the air, while Hiccup went on behind her.

" _So… A second stomach, for storing fish… All dragons have them?"_

He nodded. " _All dragons can have their own hatchlings… So yes."_

" _Does it have any other uses?"_

His shoulders seemed to slump a bit. " _Well, you can use it to store fish if you know you'll be hungry later…"_ Here, he paused. _"But, many moons ago, it was also how we brought smaller food back to the queen…"_

She purred. She had discovered much earlier that the Queen was some sort of sore spot for the Night Fury - she had tried to avoid it since, but every so often it would pop up in conversation, and Toothless would just seem to drift off.

" _So… How do I get it into my real stomach?"_ She asked, trying to change the subject. It must've worked, as Toothless blinked, and looked back up at her.

" _It's pretty easy…"_ He said, _"But you're not going to like it. You have to, ah…"_

Trailing off, he picked up a fish and swallowed it. He was still for a moment, before he began convulsing, his head and neck rocking back and forth as a low gurgling sound came out of his throat. Her eyes widened; she knew what was going to happen next. She had seen him do it dozens of times.

A lump the same size as the one from a moment ago appeared, this time traveling _up_ his throat instead of down and, sure enough, he opened his mouth a moment later to display the fish, saliva-coated and slimy on his tongue, but still intact. Then he swallowed it again.

She shivered. " _I have to do that with… Every fish?"_

He cooed. " _How many did you swallow?"_

She winced. Too many.

" _Okay… What do I do?"_

" _Not much,"_ he replied. " _You just need to… Want it, to come back up, and let your throat take over."_

" _Can I not just make it go straight to my stomach?"_ She asked, with her last shred of hope.

" _No. I've tried, but... It comes up every time."_

" _Alright,"_ She nodded, trying to focus on the crop. It wasn't hard - with as many fish as she had swallowed, she could feel it like a bruise. They could probably see it bulging out of her chest, too, if it were exposed.

Then, she just… Told it to come back up. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, she felt it. The fish was traveling out of her crop, and before she knew it, her head was rocking back and forth just like Toothless. She felt it coming up and up, in rhythm with the beat of her heart, until-

"I KNEW IT!" The sound of her own voice yelled out from behind her. She felt a rush of anger, and all of a sudden, she felt something _else_ moving up out of her throat - and ten times faster than the fish, at least. Her eyes widened as a tiny fireball shot out of her mouth, followed by the fish, crumbling and blackened with soot. There was an explosion on the ground in front of her, and she was almost knocked back as the taste of burning iron filled her mouth.

Then, there was silence - a deep, deep silence - as they all processed what had just happened. Then, the fish's skeleton collapsed into ash and dust, and Syl screamed.

"Dear GODS! What the hell was that?! You nearly just killed us all, you crazy-"

"No, no," Hiccup replied, stepping up to block Syl from lunging at her. "That was an accident. Astrid was trying to bring up a… An, uh…"

"Fish?" She asked. "Yeah, I know _,_ I can see that."

You really thought you could keep this a secret from me? That I wouldn't find out? Well, you guessed _wrong._ We're supposed to be working as a _team_ here, unless I'm mistaken. If you two think that you have the right to hide something from _me..."_

Astrid growled.

"But, you know what? Whatever. Keep feeding your inner dragon - I don't care anymore. Just remember _why_ we're helping you, Astrid. Why _I'm_ helping you."

That was when she noticed - Syl was carrying a large, leather-bound book under her arm. Could it be…?

"Oh, this?" She said, seeing her stare. "Yes, _you're welcome._ While you were here shooting off _fireballs,_ and chowing down on _rotting_ _fish,_ I was getting work done."

Astrid glanced back at Hiccup, who, for whatever reason, looked leagues beyond nervous. Did this have something to do with his changing the subject earlier? Maybe he had suspected she was going to try something.

 **HOW DID YOU GET IT?**

Astrid almost thought she saw her wink at Hiccup, before going on, "While I was in the Village, I decided to check out the back room of the Great Hall again," she explained. "And I found it. The book was back in the case - don't know who stole it, but it doesn't matter now, right? We got it."

 **I SUPPOSE**

 **IT JUST SEEMS REALLY**

"Convenient?" Syl said. "Yeah, but we're dealing with magic, anyway, so who knows what mystical forces are at work, here? Maybe I was meant to find it all along. Maybe all of this is happening for one big reason."

"Uh, yeah, sure," Hiccup said, stepping between them again, before turning to look at her. "You said you didn't have any… Trouble, getting it?

"A little," she shrugged. "Nothing I couldn't handle."

"Right, right," he gulped, glancing around the edges of the cliffs, with a look on his face to suggest that Vikings could sweep down into their ravine at any given moment. She didn't blame him, really; he had every right to be afraid of whatever scheme she was hatching. She certainly was.

"So," Pouting her lips, she held out the book in front of him and bent down on one knee. "Your book, Oh-Great-Dragon-Master."

He snorted as he picked it up. "Is that really what they call me?"

"You've got to give them credit," she smirked, "Most of them haven't met you yet."

Rolling his eyes, he opened the book. Toothless, as if on cue, came to sit behind him, just as Hiccup sat back against him in near-perfect sync. Syl fidgeted, stepping backward and refusing to let her eyes meet the Night Fury's own.

Taking a deep breath, he began flipping through the pages.

Astrid watched him closely, expecting to see looks of enlightenment or wonder in his eyes. After all, this was a _magic book,_ and from the way everyone was making a fuss about it, it must've been a pretty important one. According to Hiccup, it might even have held the secret to bringing her back to normal. Gods, she hadn't realized what an exciting moment this could be!

But instead of a look of insight, his brows only furrowed the farther he went through it, until he threw it down in disgust.

"Look!" he gestured to the book. "It's... Broken! The letters are all… Fragmented! It looks like it's supposed to be Norse, but…"

Confused, she looked at the open page of the book - maybe he was just looking at it wrong, as unlikely as it seemed - but he was right. While there were obviously words separated out into sentences and the like, the letters were all fractions of what they were supposed to be. Every now and then, she could guess at what a few words might have been - but only a few.

"Not even any drawings," he sighed. "Which isn't exactly the usual Viking standard."

"And it's all the same, too…" He went on, "Hundreds of pages, but..."

He slumped against Toothless. "Astrid, I… This could take weeks, months, _years_ to translate…"

There was silence for a moment, until Syl voiced Astrid's own thoughts.

" _Years?!"_ Syl shrieked. "We don't have _years._ We barely have a few _hours_ before your father gets back, and besides…"

She sucked in her breath.

 **BESIDES WHAT?**

"Uh… Nothing. Just lots of problems that could arise if we… If we don't get whatever you need from this book."

 **SINCE WHEN ARE YOU SO CONCERNED?**

 **I'M THE ONE THAT'S BEEN TURNED INTO**

 **A DAMN NIGHT FURY**

"I think Syl's right," Hiccup interjected. "We need to get this to Gothi, soon. Like, _now."_

And with that, he grabbed her hand, and began leading her over to Toothless, until she ripped it away. Then, sticking two fingers in her mouth, she gave a whistle loud enough for the whole island to hear, and sure enough, Stormfly swooped down into the ravine a few seconds later. Realizing that she wasn't going to get another chance, Astrid called out to the Night Fury.

" _Wait! Toothless!"_ He stopped just as he was about to take off. " _What… What's going on with these two? Do you know anything about this? What are they hiding?"_

The dragon looked at her. Then he looked back at Hiccup and Syl.

He purred. " _Sorry. No idea, Astrid. We've got to go."_

His wings expanded, forcing her to step back, but before he took off, he added, " _And try not to eat so fast next time, alright, Astrid? It's dangerous to just rush into things like that."_

And with that, they were gone.

* * *

"Well, that was… Close," Hiccup remarked, once they had put a sizable distance between themselves and the ravine.

Syl shrugged. "I've been through closer and made it out fine."

"Did those instances happen to include one of your parents getting you out of it at the last second?" He asked. The way she shot that look at him from dragon-back was an answer in itself.

"Sorry, sorry," he replied. "I didn't mean to hit a sore spot, I swear. My Dad used to bail me out of stuff a lot, is all. Helps when he's the Chief, I guess."

"I would disagree…" She mumbled. "So what did your Dad catch you doing?"

He laughed. "Catch me doing? My... Incidents, didn't exactly tend to be that small, or… Quiet. I, uh… Well, I messed up stuff around town. A lot. 'Hiccup the walking Hazard,' they used to call me. They, uh, they still do, actually."

"Really?" She asked. "I mean, the twins, sure, but you? You're by far one of the most careful people I know."

He smiled. "Well, I wasn't always. For a while, I was just… Desperate to prove myself, I guess. I built a lot of weapons, mechanisms, and things to help in the raids. At least, I tried to. They might've worked if I'd ever, uh…" He frowned for a moment, before smiling again and leaning down to pat Toothless on the neck.

"Well, one of them did, anyway. That's how I met Toothless, here."

"Yeah, yeah, I've heard the stories," She rolled her eyes.

His face fell. "The… Stories? There are stories?"

"Well, yeah, of course," she replied. "You're the 'Dragon-Conqueror'. You tamed a wild dragon of the wilderness - a _Night Fury,_ at that. Nobody's ever done that before. No one."

He sighed. "It's not _taming_ , it's training. There's a difference-"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," She waved him off.

They flew in silence for another moment.

"So," he asked. "How did it _really_ go? You know, the…?"

"Robbery?" She said. "You can't be afraid to say a word like _robbery_ _,_ Hiccup. For gods' sakes, you're hiding your _Night Fury girlfriend_ in the _woods,_ away from all other civilization _._ And this was to _help_ least you could do was admit that _you're_ an accomplice in this."

"Not a _willing_ accomplice," he complained.

"Yeah, well, neither was I," she retorted, "But here we are."

He frowned, as she went back to staring up at the moon.

"Yeah… I guess not," he admitted. "So, you _stole_ it, but… How? I saw you sneak into the house, through the smoke vent - _very_ impressive, by the way. I would never have thought of that - but then Toothless showed up, and… We had to leave. So what happened next?"

"What would you expect?" She gave an offhand wave. "I went in, got the book, and went out. Simple as that. Mildew's probably back there reeling right now."

"Yeah, he must be…" Hiccup responded. "There… There really weren't any other… Complications, at all?"

"No," she said. "None at all."


	19. The Question

**Hey, everyone!**

 **With any luck, this chapter will be on time (I'm actually writing this A/N beforehand this time), but I make no promises. The first of these past two, or maybe three weeks was really busy, and I can't guarantee that I won't be a little burnt out by the end of it. Once again, however, excuses are excuses, and I'll do everything in my power to get it out as soon as I can. You have my word. I hope you all enjoy, and be sure to follow this story for updates, and leave a review - I'm really hoping for some critiques here, people. Please! Even the things -** _ **particularly**_ **the things** **\- that you're not a huge fan of in this story, or you think I could have done differently. I know there must be some thing(s)! Thank you!**

 **All the best,**

 **~RS**

 **I don't own How to Train Your Dragon.**

* * *

Syl decided that Hiccup would drive her crazy before anything else - be it dragon, human, or otherwise - on that island did.

Lots of questions still ran through her head. What was Bjarke doing on the island? Had Mildew met him before? If so, how long had they known each other? How long had her mother had a mole on Berk? How had Bjarke been able to read the book if it was as fragmented as it was? Was there something in it Hiccup hadn't seen? Why did she even care what was in the book at all? Why had she gone into the house to get it in the first place? Did she need to be back in her element that badly?

So many unanswered thoughts would make the average Viking faint or collapse in shock. They might've confused her, too, at one point. After all, she had lived the last few years of her life more or less carefree, up until the war with the dragons ended. Sure, her life hadn't been _perfect,_ but it wasn't the worst, either, and most problems seemed to find their way around her. And if they didn't, _she_ would find her way around _them._ The times when the two possibilities had collided… She didn't like to think about.

But she had changed. Or at least, her perception had - in a world with shape-shifting Vikings and dragons, where she could be disowned by her mother and tribe and form an alliance with the enemy in the same day, where brutes from her Village showed up in the most unlikely places to buy _magic books…_ Needless to say, she had learned that many of her questions might go unanswered forever.

But Hiccup… _Hiccup,_ the one person she had _almost_ come to tolerate on that island, who, in all fairness, had always shown kindness to her even when he had no reason to at all…

Hiccup, the _incredible_ Dragon-Conqueror, who had brought down the greatest treasure known to Viking-kind and _tamed_ it…

Hiccup could not stop tapping his foot.

She was going to go insane. She couldn't remember ever seeing him do it before, even in the times when he had devolved into complete, nervous wreck, and couldn't even use what she had learned was his characteristic sarcasm to diffuse the situation.

 _Why?!_ Did he have a tune or a great Viking ballad stuck in his head? Something he was too afraid to whistle aloud, or couldn't? It didn't seem like it, as he didn't appear to be forming any kind of melody she knew. It simply remained as nothing more than a solid, rhythmic, _Tap… Tap… Tap… Tap…_

Sure, she could understand his impatience. They had been waiting in the dark behind Gothi's hut for what felt like hours, the only light and heat seeping through the cracks in the door. His _Elder,_ for whatever reason, refused to let them in, no matter how much Syl yelled at the closed door.

But by then even _Toothless_ seemed to be getting annoyed, if a dragon could even _be_ annoyed. She had never thought a dragon could express or feel anything aside from hate and loathing until then, though what she had seen in her time on that island seemed to suggest otherwise...

" _Hiccup,"_ she hissed when she simply couldn't take it anymore. "Stop. Just… Just stop."

"W-what?" He asked, still tapping. "Stop what?"

"Your foot, you- you're tapping it. Could you…?"

Toothless purred in agreement. She shot a stare at the dragon, only for him to look straight back at her. Mashing her teeth together, she ripped her glare away from him. _Dragons._

Hiccup looked down at his foot after a moment, still tapping, as though unable to comprehend what she had said. Then, with a shortly muttered, "sorry," he stopped, and the night was silent again. To any others, the lack of sound might have been unnerving, but Syl was only relieved. Hiccup, on the other hand...

"So," he asked her after not even a minute had passed, "About the, uh… The book. What… What do you think is in it? Or… _Was_ in it?"

She sighed. So this was how it was going to be. Small talk had never been her specialty, and she had preferred the silence.

"I don't know," She shrugged. "You said it was a magic book, right? Magic stuff, then, I guess. I'm more interested in what she's doing with it."

"We can trust Gothi," he said. "She asked for this book, and she's wiser than anyone else on this island. She knows what she's doing, whatever it is."

"Oh, I don't care," she shrugged. "I was just curious, really. I can imagine you're worried, though - she's _your_ girlfriend, after all."

"Gothi?"

"No!" She groaned - boys were so stupid, sometimes. "Astrid. Astrid is _your_ girlfriend. Gods, you act like you don't even know her."

She waited for a response. When she didn't get one, she shivered, and turned away, until he spoke up.

"Why did you do this, Syl?"

She looked around after a moment, half-wondering if he was talking to someone else.

"What?" She asked.

"Y'know… _This,"_ he lifted his hands up gesturing all around them. "Getting the book. Putting your _life_ at risk to steal it. You say you have no other choice but to stay here - you have nowhere else to go. But… You didn't _have_ to steal the book. Toothless, Astrid and I… We could've taken care of it."

"Yeah, right. Like you, your oversized lizard and mutated girlfriend with anger issues could ever _hope_ to do what I did. You have a _metal leg_ for the gods' sakes."

He smiled. "You still haven't answered my question, and trying to insult me isn't going to help you, here. Remember," - he puffed out his chest - "You're dealing with the _king_ of sarcasm when trying to get out of something."

"Whatever," She rolled her eyes.

He frowned, his chest deflating some. He moved to rub Toothless's ears, before continuing, "I know you don't hate dragons. I think you know it, too. You don't have to be afraid of admitting it."

"I'm not _afraid_ of anything," she snapped, shooting a glance toward Stormfly, who seemed to be napping - did the damned beast ever do anything else? - before looking back at him.

"But you're right."

"Syl, they-" he blinked. "Wait… I am?"

"You are. I don't hate dragons," She started walking to Stormfly, making as though she were about to do the same thing Hiccup was, before swiveling back halfway and marching back to shove an accusing finger in his face.

"I don't hate dragons… Because I'm not _allowed_ to. Not here. Everyone on this gods-forsaken island is _so_ crazy about these stupid dragons. Except _me,_ because I'm not one of _you._ But, lo and behold, _I_ have to do this stupid, _crazy_ bit where I dress up as the _Dragon-Conqueror's girlfriend_ and say, 'Oh-ho, look at me, I _love_ dragons. Why, I have my own Deadly Nadder! Her name is Stormfly!' You think I _want_ to do that every single day? It's hard for me to _tolerate_ them, at best. You know that, and yet you still act like I have a _choice._ It's unbelievable."

The light shining through the outline of the door created the only light to see by on the precipice. The fires of Berk glittered far below her, small and fragile enough to be mistaken for the stars in the sky by the distant sailor. Some were lit as she stared down into the village, while many were put out for the night, quenched - it was getting late, after all. Others only flickered, bright, then dark, then bright again.

It was calm, too. There was almost no wind, even as high on the mountain as they were. Probably the most tranquil Berk would be before winter set in - the coming days would be as windy as they were cold. Not only did she know from experience, but from those who whispered in the Village about stockpiling and numbers of farm animals. Those who had already begun to board up their homes and barns, before the first blizzard even came. It would be hard, but she would make it. She was a Viking, and she would survive, no matter where - or who - she was. That was, if Hiccup didn't find a solution in the next few weeks...

A few seconds later, he whispered, defeat in his eyes. "So… That's still your answer, then? That you don't have a… a choice, in all this?"

She sneered. "One way or another, you're not getting a simple 'yes or no' out of me, Hiccup. Give me a question I can answer, first. Besides, even if we weren't _here, now,_ doing _this…_ I doubt you could bring yourself to believe the answer. Don't let the lies you tell yourself about me become real to you. Dreaming hard enough about something _doesn't_ make it happen. Someday you'll learn that the hard way."

He shrugged, glancing back down into the Village. She followed his eyes. Oddly enough, to Syl, the fires seemed brighter than they had been just a moment before.

"I know a few people who would disagree," he remarked.

Her eyes flashed, and she opened her mouth, about to respond, before the door to the hut flew open. Gothi's small, hunched over form was outlined in the doorway. Her staff was in her right hand, she could see - the book in her left. She beckoned them in.

* * *

The inside of the house, at the very least, was much warmer than it had been outside. She realized why the outline of the door had provided the only illumination, then - for some reason, Gothi had extinguished every flame, candle, and lamp in the house, except one; the fire pit in the middle. She couldn't imagine why. Maybe it was just for dramatic effect - this old woman did seem to be quite the sensationalist, after all. If she had another mystical tale to tell, she _would_ have to do everything in her power to keep Syl interested.

"Have… Have you found anything in the book? Anything we could use?" Hiccup asked, sounding a bit too eager, in Syl's opinion.

She didn't respond. Instead, the Elder waved her staff in front of them as they approached the fire, forcing them to stop.

"W-what?" Syl said. "But I'm cold!"

She raised her hand up to move the stick, but before she reached it, the gnarled staff went flying into her stomach, making her double over in pain, and fall to her knees.

"Ow!" She cried out. Hiccup looked down at her with a wince of empathy, unsure of what to do.

"What the _hell_ was that for?! I said I was cold!" She rose to her feet, only for Gothi to raise her staff again, threatening another strike.

"Fine, fine," Syl shivered. "Have it your way, crazy woman."

She went to stand next to Hiccup, just outside the reach of her staff. He seemed concerned, too.

"Gods, what is _wrong_ with her?" She whispered.

"Well, nothing," he replied. "She was just, uh… Well, I'm sure she had her reasons."

"Tell me about it…" Syl groaned.

Still clutching her chest, she watched Gothi disappear into another room, then reappear a few seconds later, a couple vials of some sort of new, unknown liquid in her hands. Syl couldn't help but flinch - the last time she had dealt with one of Gothi's concoctions, she had ended up with an _entirely new voice._ The gods knew what she intended to do with _two_ of them.

Hobbling over to her workstation, she set down one of the vials and picked up the book, which she had laid down on the table before she got the beakers. Then she went back to the fire.

"So, uh," Syl risked. "Is this... Are you going to, um…?"

Gothi held up a hand to silence her. Then, with the speed of a crossbow bolt, she flung the vial down into the pit. There was a rush of smoke, and for a moment, Syl almost thought she saw the fire flare up blue, before fading back to its normal orange-red.

Syl stepped back, wary, but Hiccup kept staring at it, as if in a trance. "Magic…" He whispered, with the awestruck tone of a child who had just seen a Viking Feast for the first time.

Gothi smiled at him, before going back to the table. She picked up the other beaker, then walked back over to them, and opened the book. They walked over to her, close enough to peer down into at it. She handed the book and the potion to Hiccup, then took her staff in both hands.

 **THE BOOK WAS WRITTEN IN A WAY**

 **SUCH THAT NONE OF THOSE**

 **UNREADY FOR THE SECRETS OF THE ARCANE**

 **WOULD EVER BE ABLE TO READ IT**

"'Secrets of the Arcane'?" Syl snorted. "I mean, _magic_ , sure, whoop-de-doo, but… Seriously? What are you, some kind of bard?"

Both Hiccup and Gothi seemed to hear her. "So… Who wrote it? Was it you?"

She shook her head.

 **NO HICCUP**

 **IT WAS NOT ME**

 **AS TO THE AUTHOR**

 **THAT IS A STORY FOR**

 **ANOTHER DAY**

 **PERHAPS WHEN THIS**

 **IS ALL OVER AND DONE WITH**

" _If_ it ever is," Syl muttered. This time, Hiccup turned back to face her, as did Gothi.

"What?" She asked. "It's a valid point, isn't it? You've all been acting like it's a matter of _when._ Haven't you ever stopped to consider whether it's a matter of _if_ instead? I mean, come on, even if we _do_ have this 'magical book' in our hands, it doesn't have the answer to all of our problems, does it? That is, if you even know how to make it _legible_ again. Have you ever even stopped to consider that this _might_ never work? That you'll never find the answer to this? You're working almost completely in the dark."

Hiccup seemed shocked. _Good,_ she thought. Maybe she had finally talked some sense into him. It was a hard truth, she knew, but he had to learn to accept it.

Gothi frowned. It was she that eventually stepped forward.

 **LISTEN TO ME, GIRL**

 **YOU MAY WEAR ASTRID'S CLOTHES**

 **YOU MAY LIVE AMONG OUR PEOPLE**

 **FIGHT ALONGSIDE OUR WARRIORS**

 **AND EAT IN OUR HALLS**

 **BUT YOU WILL NEVER BE ONE OF US**

 **BECAUSE ON BERK**

 **WE ARE NOT HEARTLESS**

 **WE ARE NOT COWARDS**

 **WE DO NOT LET OUR DOUBT CONSUME US**

 **LIKE YOUR PEOPLE DO.**

" _Heartless?_ " She seethed. "I'll tell you what's heartless, _hag._ False hope, that's what. You keep telling him that there _will_ be a solution and you will _crush_ him one day. Maybe, just maybe, you will find an answer. Maybe you will turn Astrid human again. But you can't win _every_ battle. Everyone has to die eventually. Pretending you won't will only make it worse when the day comes.

"As to my family, my 'People'… You act like I have some sort of sympathy for them. Let me remind your senile brain that my own mother _left_ me here. They _disowned_ me on this beloved island of yours. Oh, and by the way, don't forget that _I_ got this book for you in the _first place._ Remember _that_ the next time you call me a coward."

Narrowing her eyes, she raised up her staff again. Head held high, Syl braced herself for the impact, and saw the staff about to fly down, before Hiccup stepped in front of her.

"Wait!" He said. Gothi looked as though she were prepared to hit him for a moment, but hesitated. "Please, Let… Let me talk to her, or at least _try_ to handle this. Just this once."

She puckered her lips, but let him speak. Syl crossed her arms as he turned around to face her.

"Syl…" He sighed. "I… Can I tell you a story?"

She ran her teeth along her lips. "I've heard enough stories lately. But _fine,_ your godliness. Try not to bore me. What is it?"  
"It's about a boy," he said, gesturing out the door to where Toothless was trying to get Stormfly's attention by pawing her nose, "And his dragon."

"Oh, no," she rolled her eyes. "I'm not hearing this again. Listened to drunks and old warriors whisper it a thousand times, Hiccup. Same for each one, except for the stuff they make up to impress each other. I'm sick of it."

"Please," he replied. "Just… Just hear me out."

She narrowed her eyes, but remained silent.

"So… A boy. A boy the world had hated his _whole life._ He did his best to prove himself to his village, but… Everything he did just made it worse. Everything he touched seemed to crumble under his hands! He tried everything he could, tried to talk to his father, but each time he did he… He couldn't get him to listen. The older he grew, the harder it was. He came close to giving up, but… He didn't.

"And then one day, it all finally started to work out. He shot down a Night Fury - the greatest prize a Viking could ever hope to attain. But by that time, nobody believed him anymore. They scoffed at his story when he told them. His own father turned his back on him. They were so... _Forceful_ in their doubt that the boy began to believe them, as well. But still, I- I mean he, went into the forest. And he found it. He found the dragon, still tangled up, exhausted from struggling against its bonds in the early hours of the morning. It would've starved there. It would've died. Any Viking with a shred of common sense would have… Would've considered it a _mercy_ to…"

Out of the corner of her eye, Syl noticed that Toothless had stuck his head in through the door, though Hiccup didn't seem to have noticed. She wondered how much of their conversation he understood. Though he was a dragon, she had to admit that he was obviously of the more intelligent breed. As far as she was concerned, that wasn't a good thing.

Hiccup shook his head. "But he didn't. He didn't do it. Instead, he cut the ropes, set it free. I… He didn't know why. He didn't know what he was doing. But he couldn't just leave it there. He couldn't.

"As soon as it was free, It tackled him, and in that instant, he realized his mistake. It was going to kill him - he could see it in his eyes. And yet… He knew he deserved it. He deserved it because he shot it down. He had failed, and this dragon would not make the same mistake he had. His whole life was just mistake after mistake, and that would be the last one he ever made. But then…"

Syl rolled her eyes. "You stood up to it, I know. Like I've already said a _thousand_ times, I've heard the stories."

He shook his head. "No, I- He was a fishbone. The scrawniest boy on the island. How could he? He was trapped… Nowhere to turn, end of the line… But the dragon let him go."

She frowned. "No… _No_. You're lying. I know you're lying. He wouldn't. He _didn't._ That's not what happened at all."

"I wouldn't… I wouldn't lie to you, Syl," He stuttered. "It's the truth. I… I don't know where you got these stories from, but… They're not true. Gods, a few years ago I would've given anything to have all these stories told about me, but now, I… I wish _nobody_ talked about me. I'm not… I'm still not important. It's the dragons that-"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever," she said, flaring her nostrils.

He sighed. "What I'm trying to say is… You're right. It really is a matter of _if._ But I never said _if_ I shot down a Night Fury when I was building. I said _when._ I kept trying. And when he tackled me, I didn't think about _if_ he was going to kill me, even though I'd set him free. I thought about _when_ he did. But-"  
"But you were wrong," she corrected. "It was _if._ He didn't kill you, he let you-" Her eyes widened. She had fallen into his trap.

Gods, how had he _done_ that? For someone with as much experience with traps as her… She clenched her fists, and in that instant, she realized why Astrid said she punched him so often. She felt the urge to right then… But she was better than that. She _wasn't_ Astrid. Two could play at this game, and she wasn't about to resort to socking him, as satisfying as it would be. To do so would be to admit that he was right.

But if Hiccup took any pride in his small victory, he didn't seem to show it. "I… I guess it's hard to explain. Maybe if you ever bond with a dragon one day… _Really_ bond, you'll understand. I know you don't like them, or don't _think_ you do, but…" He trailed off.

There was another moment of silence, as Syl tried to think of something to say. Before she could open her mouth, Gothi tapped her staff on the ground, drawing the focus of attention back to her.

 **WE MUST CONTINUE**

 **WITH THE BOOK**

 **IF I AM CORRECT, HICCUP**

 **YOU DO NOT HAVE MUCH TIME**

"Yeah, we…" He sighed, as she led him back over to the fire, away from Syl. "Dad is going to be back tomorrow with Gobber, and he'll probably go look to see if the book is still there, and… Well, it kinda _needs_ to be there. I don't know when he'll be back, either. Evening, at best. At _worst…_ Uh, well it needs to be back. Which means, y'know, no rush."

Gothi nodded and took the book from him. Hiccup shifted as it left his hands.

"T-that, uh… That reminds me, Gothi… Y'know, you never really told me _what_ you expect to find in this book. How it could help us, or anything like that… It would be kind of nice to… I mean, I was just wondering if you would…"

Gothi didn't even look up.

"Right, right," he said. "Mystical magic stuff. Probably not the kind of thing I should be dealing with, anyway. Though, uh, I, or _we_ , don't exactly have that much of a choice…"

Gothi looked back up at him.

 **THERE IS ALWAYS A CHOICE, HICCUP**

 **ALWAYS**

 **IT IS THE PERSON WHO MAKES THE DECISION**

 **THAT DEFINES THE OUTCOME**

 **NOT THE SITUATION**

"Yeah, yeah. Of course," Hiccup nodded, and the Elder plucked the vial out of his hand. Then, with the book poised between the fire and herself, just enough light spilling onto it to see the words, she poured the entire vial over the two pages. Hiccup sucked in his breath and made to start blowing on the pages, before he stopped. Something was happening.

Somehow, the letters in the book were beginning to reform, the remainders of the letters the same dull purple that the liquid in the vial had been. "It's… It's made to go into a specific place?" Hiccup asked. "How?"

 **NOT ENTIRELY**

 **IT DOESN'T MAKE THE LETTERS**

 **SO MUCH AS IT REVEALS THEM**

 **THE INK AND LETTERS WERE ALWAYS THERE**

 **IT JUST NEEDED THE RIGHT INGREDIENTS**

 **TO SURFACE**

 **IT WILL SPREAD THROUGHOUT**

 **THE ENTIRE BOOK ON ITS OWN,**

 **HOWEVER**

"Invisible ink," Hiccup whispered. "Wow, that's… That's incredible…"

Syl might have said the same, if she hadn't still been completely speechless from Hiccup's story. Not that it had any real impact on her, of course, but... How? How had he done that? How had he _won?_

No… No, she couldn't just let him _win._ She _wouldn't_ let him get away that easily. She had to do something… Something to strike back against him. But what? He never got angry… Nothing ever got him angry, he just…

Grinding her teeth together, she spotted an extinguished candle on the table. She grabbed it, as well as a metal file sitting next to it. It only took her a few more seconds to find a whetstone, and she struck the file against it next to the candle. Sparks flew, one of which just reached the wick, and the candle burst to life, providing the only other lumination in the room.

Storming back over to the fire, she pushed past Hiccup without thinking, and sneered, "Lemme' see it."

Gothi's eyes widened, and she tried to push her back with her staff, but by the time she did, it was too late. The letters on the book faded as the light was cast over them, and were fragmented again.

Gothi, with strength Syl wouldn't ever have guessed she had, shoved her down onto the floor. Syl bit back a yelp. She wouldn't let this old woman scare her.

 **FOOL OF A GIRL**

 **YOU ONLY CAUSE TROUBLE**

 **IF YOU WEREN'T HELPING HICCUP**

"W-Wait," he said, as though still trying to process what had just happened. "It's… Is it gone? Forever?"

It was then that Syl realized what she had just done. Fear seized her for a moment, until she frowned in confusion. Why was she afraid? She didn't care what happened to Astrid, _or_ that devil-spawn Night Fury. On the other hand, _she_ had put a lot on the line trying to get that book…

 **NO**

 **THANK THE GODS**

 **WE WILL SEE THE PAGES AGAIN,**

 **THOUGH IT WILL TAKE TIME**

"T-time? How much time?" He asked. Syl heard Toothless purr at the doorway.

 **A FEW HOURS, AT LEAST**

 **ENOUGH TIME FOR THE PAGES TO DRY**

 **IN THE WRONG LIGHT, THE INK WILL NOT WORK**

 **IF WE WERE TO TRY IT AGAIN NOW**

 **THE PAGES WOULD BE SOAKED**

 **AND THE BOOK WOULD TRULY BE RUINED**

"So… We just have to wait?" Hiccup said.

 **YES**

 **WAIT**

 **AND PRAY THAT YOUR FATHER**

 **IS LATE IN HIS ARRIVAL**

 **YOU CAN THANK THIS GIRL FOR THAT**

Syl opened her mouth, and Hiccup heard the faintest noise come up from her throat, until it turned into a grumble, and she whipped around, flying back out the door. Toothless only just had time to step aside.

"Syl, w-wait," Hiccup called after her. "It's not… I'm sorry that you… I, uh…" But without turning back, she had already mounted Stormfly and was soaring down into the dark village below.

"Uh… Alright," he yelled out the empty doorway a moment later. "I guess I'll just, y'know, catch up with you tomorrow! Maybe we can complain more about our parents and stuff, then! Remember that? That was fun, right, Sy-"

He was interrupted by a tap on his shoulder. He turned back to the Elder with a heavy sigh.

"Gothi, I… I don't know what to do. She's helping us, but… She won't tell me _why._ She says that she has no choice, but you and I know that's not true. She can leave whenever she wants. I thought maybe she wanted to give us a chance, but-"

With a shake of her head, she cut him off again and started to guide him back out the door.

 **SOMEDAY, HICCUP**

 **YOU WILL HAVE TO MAKE A CHOICE**

 **WHEN THAT DAY COMES**

 **MAY YOUR DECISION**

 **BE WITH THE WISDOM OF A CHIEF**

 **AND THE GUIDANCE OF THE GODS**

"W-wait… What? A decision? You mean between her and-"

 **COME BACK TO SEE ME IN THE MORNING**

With nothing else to say, she pushed him outside, closing the door softly behind him.

He shivered and walked over to Toothless, who was obviously still distraught over Stormfly's sudden departure. He cooed as Hiccup rubbed his ears and chin.

"I've said it before, and I'll say it again," Hiccup grumbled. "I'll never understand girls."

Toothless cooed again, leading the boy to smile."Come on, bud. Let's get home. It's been a long day, though it's not like that's anything new…"

He climbed on his back, set his metallic foot into the tailfin switch, clicked it back, and they lifted off, bound for the twinkling lights of Berk hundreds of feet below.

* * *

The house was cold that night. It was winter, after all - it was always cold in winter. But even then, the house felt colder than usual. Syl had already looked around everywhere for mommy, but she couldn't find her anywhere. She must have known something bad was going to happen that night. But if she did, why didn't she take she and big brother with her? And where did she go?

Her brother was downstairs sitting at the table. Perched at the top of the steps going up to her loft, she could just see him. He was reading a book, and she thought he looked really tired, but she wasn't sure why. He had started dragon training a few weeks ago, she remembered - maybe that was it.

The dying embers of the fire illuminated his sword in its sheath, leaning against the table next to him. He had made it himself, and let her help him make the pommel and hilt. She knew why _that_ was there, and it had nothing to do with dragon training. Not yet, anyway.

All of a sudden, the front door burst open, letting snow rush in through the door, around the hunched over figure of a fat, drunken man. Syl shivered as the cold wind reached the top of the stairs, and she moved up a step, further into the darkness of the loft.

"Get meh… Somethin' to drink, boy…" He slurred. Still, her brother stared down at his book, though Syl thought she saw his fist tighten.

Her father narrowed his eyes.

"I said," he shouted. "Get me somethin' to _drink!"_

His axe came flying down into the table, cleaving her brother's book in two with what Syl knew by then was expert precision. Still, he had only missed his son's face by a few inches. Syl winced as the wood chipped, and went flying all over the floor, some going up into her brother's face. She thought she saw drops of blood on his cheek.

Nonetheless, he got up, stiff as a bowstring, and disappeared into the kitchen. A few seconds later, he returned, a mug of ale clenched in his fist. Her father sat down in the chair he had been in his chair, and glanced around, snatching the ale out of his hand without looking.

"Where's yer sister?" He asked.

Her brother didn't respond.

"Did ye' not hear me, boy?" He said. "Did yer ears go deaf while I was away? _Where_ is your _sister?"_

Her brother mumbled something.

" _What_ did you just say to me?" Her father asked, baring his teeth.

"I _said,_ " her brother responded. "You will _not touch_ her."

Her father stood up, pushing the chair over behind him. Her brother stepped out of the way without so much as a flinch.

"She's _my daughter,"_ He said, shoving a dirty finger in his face. "And you're my _son._ This is _my_ house. I get to see her whenever I damn well please."

"Oh, _see_ her? That's all you want? Don't think I didn't see those bruises on her neck, yesterday. You should be ashamed to even call yourself her _father_."

"I'm _ashamed_ to call you my _son_ ," he sneered. "And I _want_ to see my daughter. I _will_ see my daughter. Now… _Where is she?"_

"I don't know," he hissed, through clenched teeth. She swallowed back a sob. He couldn't hear her. That's what her brother had told her. She couldn't just let him stay down there… But what else could she do?

"Don't lie to me, boy," He said, forcing him back into a corner.

"I told you," Syl noticed his eyes flit from her father, over to his sword, still leaning against the table, then back up to him. "I don't know."

With a growl, her father grabbed a long strip of leather that was lying on a table, before reeling back on him.

"You're going to regret this, boy."

He raised the leather above his head, and brought it down. Syl backed up, into the shadows, and only just held back a scream. There was a crack like thunder shaking the earth…

And for the third night in a row, Syl woke up in a cold sweat.

She winced as her heart began to slow down. She was already starting to get used to the nightmares, but that didn't make them any easier. In, fact, they seemed to be getting worse each night, each one darker and more fear-inducing than the last. She could only wonder how bad they would get and hope that this would be the last, though she knew it wouldn't.

Tearing off the covers, she began to peel away her sleeping garments - they were pasted against her body, drenched in sweat. The cold air on her bare skin as they came off was refreshing, but cold, and so she pulled on the lighter clothes she had left on Astrid's dresser as quickly as she could. She had hoped she wouldn't need them again that night, but… Well, at least she was prepared.

Once she was dressed, she started heading toward the door, having to feel for it along the wall, as the moonlight didn't reach that far. Once her fingers brushed along the edge of the door, she started to pull it back… Until she made the mistake of glancing at the desk next to her dresser.

There was some leather, charcoal and a few other things she knew were there but couldn't see on it, as well as a book propped up underneath, with enough dust to make Syl wonder when the last time Astrid had opened it was. It was the only thing there she hadn't gotten herself. Lucky for her, as she wasn't sure where she could manage to steal a book from, anyway. Getting one for Hiccup was hard enough…

She sighed. She had been meaning to work on that arts and crafts project for the past day or two, and since she had plenty of time then, anyway…

"Ah, damn it," she cursed, sitting down at the table. "Well, it's not like I'm getting any more sleep tonight, anyway."

* * *

Hiccup's eyes shot open as he heard a coo from behind him. Had he been found out? Toothless had been sleeping for the past few hours - he had _watched_ him fall asleep. Surely he didn't know that he was…

There was another coo, more frantic this time. Hiccup climbed out of bed, doing his best to pretend that he had just been woken up. In truth, he _was_ quite tired.

"Ugh… What is it, bud?" He groaned."I'm trying to sleep. Gods, why did I have to bond with the dragon that's almost completely nocturnal? Just leave it to, me, your everyday Hiccup."

He threw on his coat, finding the room to be oddly cold, even by Berk standards. As soon as he looked up, he saw why - the large hatch that let Toothless fly in and out of the loft was wide open, letting the cool night air flow freely into the room. That was odd - he could've sworn that he closed it before they went to bed.

On top of that, the dragon in question seemed to be glancing back and forth between him and it, leading him to wonder if Toothless had opened it, but couldn't close it, for some reason. He had been working on a design for a pressure pad the dragon could use to get in and out as he pleased, but had never gotten around to building it. At the moment, it was controlled simply by two levers on either side. Toothless had probably just broken one of them.

He sighed, walking over to the massive door. He didn't feel like staying up all night trying to fix it. Then again, the night was especially cold, and he didn't feel like tossing and turning under the covers until morning came and they found him frozen to death in his bed. He could always huddle up against Toothless, but he got cramps whenever he did that and felt sore for the rest of the day, warm as he was.

He could just force it closed for the night if that was the case. It wasn't his preferred choice, but since it appeared to be the only one he had. Yet, as he looked down at the lever, he was only more confused. The door appeared to be fine. The only other way it could have been opened was if-

"Hey."

Hiccup let out a less-than-Viking-like yelp. It was then that he realized what Toothless was so worried about, and why the door was open.

"Thor's Hammer, Syl," he said to the girl lying back against the sloped roofing of his house. "You scared the hell out of me!"

She rolled her eyes. "Well, I might've come in if your stupid dragon hadn't kept… _Staring_ at me. You two are _so_ weird."

"This coming from the girl who tried to sneak into my room in the middle of the night…" He mumbled.

Syl didn't seem to hear him, only crossing her hands behind her head.

"So, uh," Hiccup decided to address the obvious, though this girl somehow made it uncomfortable to do so. "What are you doing here?"

Still, Syl stared out over the darkened houses of Berk, unresponsive.

"Alright then, great," Hiccup said. "Silent treatment for no apparent reason. Not that it's my _first_ time on the receiving end, though it would be nice-"

"I didn't answer your question," she interrupted, turning her head to look at him.

"I… You, uh," he stuttered. "What?"

"You asked me a question," she shrugged. "I didn't give you an answer. Felt kinda bad about it. Actually, On second thought, no. I didn't feel bad. Without closure is more like it. Anyway, the point is, I'm usually pretty straightforward about this stuff, and…"

Her voice trailed off, as she turned her gaze back up to the stars.

"So, you," he swallowed. "You have an answer, then?"

"Maybe I do... Maybe I don't," she sighed. "Never that easy, is it? Anyway, I was out doing a little something, and I felt like stopping by. Hey, I've got a question for you, actually."

He raised an eyebrow. "Yeah? What's that?"

She clicked her tongue, then gave another deep sigh.

"Do you love Astrid?"

Though he tried to hold back his shock, his mouth still fell open. Then he remembered how blunt this girl seemed to be about everything, and realized - if he wanted a straight answer out of her, he would have to start giving her some, as well. Maybe this was some sort of test…

"Yes," he nodded his head slowly. "Yes, I love her. If this is what love feels like… Which I'm pretty sure it is. I… I'd do anything for her. Anything."

She narrowed her eyes. "So if you love her so much, why do you get so anxious when I call her your girlfriend? Wouldn't you _want_ that? If you don't already _have_ that. I still haven't quite figured out this whole… Situation, between you two."  
He shook his head.

"No, I don't want… That. To be called her… Her _boyfriend._ It feels weird. A lot weirder than telling people my best friend is a fire-breathing reptile, to be honest. She doesn't… She doesn't deserve someone like me. She's so strong, and beautiful, and smart. She's everything a Viking should be, and I'm…" He gestured to himself. " _This._ Hiccup. That's all. Just some walking, talking, sack-of-bones screw-up that works in the blacksmith struggling to lift a sword every day."

"You've got a Night Fury," She pointed out.

He smiled, glancing back in the room, at Toothless. "Yeah, I guess I do. Though I think he has me more than I have him. You should see him when he sets his mind to something. Besides… Having a dragon doesn't make me a better person, or even a different one, for that matter. I'm still just… Hiccup."

"Well," she replied, "For the record, a Hiccup isn't the worst thing you can be. Trust me… I know."

A gust of wind blew into his room. Syl's loose, blonde hair flew in front of her eyes, though she didn't seem to mind. A chill went through his bones, and he bit his lip.

"So…" He said. "You couldn't sleep, either?"

She shrugged. "More like didn't want to. Just feeling a bit… Restless. Came out here to get my mind off of things, along with a little something else. Did I wake you up? I might've gotten in if your dragon hadn't heard me and made a big fuss over it."

"I'm glad you didn't," he mumbled. "Might've thought I'd seen Astrid's ghost or something."

Syl snorted. "So she's already dead to you, huh?"

"W-What? No," his eyes widened. "No, I just meant-"

He stopped. Syl was laughing.

"Ha-ha, very funny," He slumped down onto the floor with a groan. "And if you're that curious, Toothless was the one who… who…"

He glanced back at the Night Fury, who appeared to be fast asleep already.

"Alright, to be honest… I was already awake," he gave out a long sigh and sat back up. The truth had to come out sometime, and if it was going to help get an answer out of her... "I haven't really gotten much sleep lately, either. I've been, uh, keeping an eye on Toothless. His attacks seem to be coming more often than usual, though I could be wrong about that. I hope so."

Syl frowned. "So these 'attacks' - does he have them when he's asleep? Is that why you've been staying up?"

"No," he shook his head. "Not yet, anyway. But if he did, and I didn't know… He shouldn't have to go through that alone. Nobody should. Really, he shouldn't have to go through… _Whatever_ that is at all."

"Wow…" Syl began, "That… That really sucks for-" she stopped, and Hiccup's eyes widened as he realized what she was about to say. Unfortunately, she noticed, and punched him in the arm.

"Ow!" He cried. "What was that for?"

She narrowed her eyes. "You know what that was for. Stop trying to… To trick me with this stuff."

"Trick you?" He asked. "I'm not tricking you into anything! What did I do wrong?"

She didn't respond.

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Aren't… Aren't you cold? You do realize it's cold out, right? Gods, you're not even wearing a coat."

She sneered, "I don't get cold.

"Oh, I get it," Hiccup smirked. "You must have dragon's blood in you, like the old legends say-"

She punched him again.

" _Don't_ joke about stuff like that. It's not funny," She frowned.

"Syl," he said. She looked at him. She was already aware of what was coming, he knew - though she hadn't punched him again, nor ran away. He took that as a good sign.

Taking a deep breath, he said, "You… You don't have to give me an answer tonight, you know. But I was just, uh, wondering, since you were the one that came here and all…"

He winced, cursing his namesake internally. Gods, why did he have to screw this up, of all things? It was a simple, yes or no question! Of course, he had to go and-

"I…" Her voice was so faint he had nearly missed it. Had her voice just cracked?

She took a deep breath of her own, then blew it out. "I… Could get used to dragons, maybe. I could. At least for right now. Hell, I'm already riding one. I've, uh, 'trained' it, like you said. Bonded with it, or whatever. To be honest, I don't feel like I've bonded with anything. Maybe if I… If I changed, then I would know what that was like. To have a friend that's a whole different creature."

Hiccup nodded, letting a sad smile creep back onto his face. "It's true, it's so… Strange, but cool, too. Toothless and I? We can work together, as one. That's how close we are. You don't have to change, Syl. You don't have to become a different person. You just have to find the right… Syl?"

She hadn't seemed to have heard him. Hiccup thought he saw tears running down her cheeks, though with nothing but the light of the moon to illuminate them, it was hard to tell.

"I want to, Hiccup. I want to know what it's like. To have a friend, to have someone I can… put my trust in, again. I've forgotten what it feels like to… It's been a really, really long time."

Then, the shred of empathy in her eyes vanished, and her voice hardened again. Hiccup's heart fell.

"But these… These dragons… These beasts, _demons..._ They took something away from me that I'll never get back. I can never forgive them for that. Never."

She stood up. "That's your answer, Hiccup. I hope you're happy."

"Syl," Hiccup called after her, as she slid down to the ground. "Syl, wait!"

But it was too late. She was already gone, and the night grew silent once again.


	20. The Climb

**Hey, everyone!**

 **To start off, thank you all for your follows, favorites and reviews. To TheGoldenGroups in particular - thank you for your feedback! I'm doing my best to develop this story's characters, and it's always great to know the readers' opinions and ideas for that to build off of. To Pietersielie, if you're still reading this, I implore that you continue! I promise, there are many more twists and turns still to come.**

 **A quick little side note - as far as the place where Astrid is/Toothless was, I'm going to start referring to it as "The Cove," because that's what the Wiki says, what the OST movie track called it, and jumping between ravine, sinkhole, canyon, etc. is getting kind of ridiculous. I'll probably go back and correct the other names I used for it at some point, but for the time being… There it is.**

 **Also, I've decided to stop posting new chapters on Wattpad. In truth, I stopped updating this story on there a** _ **long**_ **time ago, but I've decided I may as well make it official here. I'll keep updating the story here on FFN, of course, but that'll probably be it. If you were reading it on Wattpad, I'm sorry, but it didn't seem to serve many purposes there anymore, if it ever did at all.**

 **Without further ado, here is Chapter 20! I hope you all enjoy and, like always, be sure to follow for updates and review!**

 **All the best,**

 **~RS**

 **I don't own How to Train Your Dragon.**

* * *

 **WRONG**

Syl groaned in frustration as she read Astrid's message scribbled in the dirt. "What? What is it?"

 **YOU'RE STILL PUTTING TOO MUCH WEIGHT**

 **INTO THE SWING**

 **IT'S THROWING YOU OFF BALANCE**

"So? I still hit the tree," she gestured at the small indent on the bark, then down at the axe.

Astrid frowned as she looked up at her, taking a note of her bloodshot eyes and quivering lip. Syl hasn't been the best pupil to work with, but she hadn't been the worst, either. At least, not when it came to their training sessions. She would moan and complain, but she was willing to try until she either succeeded or became too tired to go on. Astrid could respect that. But still, it was usually at least an hour before Syl's weariness started to show through in her performance. It hadn't even been ten minutes.

 **YOU LOOK TIRED**

 **WHY?**

"I…" She blinked, rubbing her eyes. "I didn't get much sleep last night. Why do you care, anyway? 'Sleep is for the weak,' isn't it?"

She shook her head.

 **DON'T EVER LET**

 **ANYONE TELL YOU THAT**

 **YOU NEED SLEEP TO LIVE**

"Really?" She asked, "Because I'm pretty sure I've heard you say the exact opposite _quite often-"_

 **NO**

 **TOO MUCH SLEEP**

 **MAKES YOU LAZY**

 **CARELESS**

 **VULNERABLE**

 **BUT THE WELL-RESTED MIND**

 **CAN OVERCOME THE TOUGHEST OF OPPONENTS**

"I'd be even more 'well-rested' if I didn't have to come out here at dawn every morning," Syl muttered.

Astrid ignored her.

 **TAKE A BREAK**

 **IF YOU MUST**

 **BUT I EXPECT YOU TO BE**

 **BRIGHT-EYED AND**

 **READY TO SAIL OUT TO**

 **WAR TOMORROW,**

 **THOUGH**

Syl quickly obliged, flinging herself down on a fallen log that looked comfortable enough to make Astrid at least a little bit jealous. She didn't let it get to her, though; she was a warrior, a Viking. Vikings didn't need comfort, and neither did dragons.

Besides, she was glad that she had gotten Syl relaxed. She had some questions to ask her.

 **WHAT HAPPENED WITH YOU AND HICCUP?**

"Ugh, this again, Astrid?" she groaned. "I told you, your weird relationship is perfectly safe-"

She growled

 **NOT THAT**

 **YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN**

 **WHAT DID YOU FIND LAST NIGHT?**

"Nothing," she shrugged. "She couldn't translate it in a night, is all. Pretty sure Hiccup's up there working on it with her right now, actually. Your boyfriend wouldn't stop drooling over the thing yesterday, and he couldn't even read it 'till this morning."

She snarled.

 **WHAT ARE YOU HIDING?**

 **DON'T PRETEND THAT**

 **YOU COULD CARE LESS**

 **YOU GOT THAT BOOK FOR US**

 **ONE WAY OR ANOTHER**

 **SOME PART OF YOU**

 **HOWEVER SMALL**

 **MUST CARE WHAT HAPPENS TO IT**

"Don't flatter yourself by thinking you understand my intentions," she countered. "I got that book because I _could._ If you still don't get that, then you should have the common sense to understand there's a lot of other things you don't know about me, as well."

 **THIS ISN'T JUST FOR ME, REMEMBER**

 **TOOTHLESS IS SICK**

 **THIS BOOK IS TO HELP US BOTH**

"And that's supposed to make me cry? If you hadn't noticed, _I hate dragons._ You want me to ball over your _Night Fury,_ the dragon that killed hundreds of my kin? Of _your_ kin? And yet you say _you're_ the honorable one. Get over yourself."

She growled again, this time letting it recede to a low gurgle in her throat.

 **THESE DRAGONS**

 **HAVE SAVED MY LIFE**

 **MORE TIMES THAN YOU CAN COUNT**

 **BUT IF YOU'RE NOT GOING TO BE OF ANY USE**

 **YOU MAY AS WELL LEAVE**

 **SO GO**

 **BEFORE I DECIDE TO TEACH YOU**

 **A REAL LESSON**

"And your common sense is gone now, too!" She cried. "The moment you don't want to deal with someone, you whisk them away, like some kind of mad god, corrupted by power. This place - this _ravine_ you and dragon-boy love so much is driving you mad, _sick._ If it could make a Night Fury reluctant to kill a human, who's to say it couldn't do the opposite for you?"

She whipped around, marching back to where Stormfly lay, resting. "But fine. I don't need this. I don't need _you_ or anyone else to tell me how I feel. Try not to lose your mind down here. I'm sure it gets very, _very_ lonely with no one else around. Just make sure Hiccup looks more like a human than a meal the next time he comes around to tell you how sorry he is for this mess you got yourself wrapped up in."

Stormfly woke up as she climbed onto her saddle, opening a sleepy eye to look back at Syl. She barked for her to fly, and eventually, she did so, though not without stretching her wings first, nor letting out a yawn to wake up every animal in the forest. Astrid had to allow herself a small bit of satisfaction - Syl's love of dramatic exits had been systematically dismantled by the Nadder's mid-morning lethargy, and the girl grew more and more frustrated as she refused to take off without preening herself. She looked about ready to tear her hair out when she finally lifted off.

Still, her mood darkened again once they were gone. As much as she wanted to rip Syl - or anything - to shreds, she had to admit, yet again, that she had a point; she was going crazy in that ravine.

It was nice enough. Perhaps even beautiful, though Astrid never had the opportunity to see it that way. The surroundings she had memorized; the small woods she had scouted out in its entirety, the trees she had counted over and over again in boredom. A dragon's eye view of the place was pressed into her brain, or at least how she imagined it might look.

It was a cell. Each morning, a sense of dread and fear overtook her as she regained consciousness, to the point where she had to pace around the edges of the cove to prove to herself the walls hadn't moved any closer overnight.

She needed to get out. That much was clear. But the question remained - how? She certainly wasn't about to try flying, and she wasn't about to ask for help, either; she was a Viking, and Vikings didn't ask for help unless they absolutely needed it. _She_ didn't _need_ it. On top of that, the unspoken agreement between the three of them still stood: Syl would continue pretending to be her, Hiccup would help her keep up her appearance, as well as search for a cure for her, and she, Astrid, would stay in the cove. So, it was probably better that they didn't know she was going to try anything… Risky. At least, that was what she told herself.

But still, she had mulled over the question for several days, waiting for an answer, until it came to her. Like all the best plans, it was dangerous, and she had to plan and think it out before she even considered trying it. But more importantly, she needed the willpower, the motivation to do it. She had expected one day she would be tipped over the edge but hadn't expected it would be very soon, either. Yet Syl had unwittingly just given her a reason - and she wouldn't be deterred. That day was the day, and there was no going back on it.

She was going to climb the wall.

Of course, she had considered it before. An escape plan was one of the first things she had considered when she accepted the cove as her new - if temporary - home. It was just basic survival skills, after all. And in the first few days, there had been no reason to do so. But as the nights stretched on and the cove started to seem frighteningly small, she felt a growling restlessness brewing in her stomach. Perhaps it was just her instincts, she reasoned. She had never been a fan of small spaces, after all. But a thought had lodged itself in her mind, as well, one that she couldn't get rid of as much as she tried to beat it away. Perhaps her want to escape wasn't from the human half… Perhaps it was the untamed wanderlust of a dragon calling to her. She knew staying in the cove was her safest option - she had certainly thought about _that_ plenty. Yet, as if compelling her, _pulling_ at her very soul, the thought tugged at her…

It didn't matter, anyway. She _needed_ to get out of that cove. And one morning, the idea had just popped back into her mind, like a fish onto a bank. She could just… Climb up. Get out. She wouldn't go anywhere - or not very far, anyway. She understood that the cove was the safest place for her to be, but she just… Needed some fresh air. At least, that was what she repeated over and over in her mind as she stalked in front of the near-vertical cliff face.

Despite its height and angle, it was what she had decided would be the easiest to climb, counting the amount of footholds and probability of rocks falling out from under her. Although a mudslide from the storm that already seemed to have occurred ages ago had caused a large section of the cliff to collapse, creating somewhat of a slope, she had dismissed that option almost immediately. The ground still looked muddy and unstable, and she had seen enough Vikings and dragons alike pulled down in sudden floods of earth and dirt to know better than to test her luck.

 _Besides,_ she told herself, _it's better this way. It's more of a… Challenge._

A challenge. She wasn't doing this to escape - no, of course not. She didn't need to escape anything but her boredom, really. She was just doing this to prove that she _could_ do it. What use was an escape route if she didn't even know if she could use it?

A rumble came from deep in her throat as her eyes travelled up the haphazard stone wall. Memories of Hiccup's retelling of his second encounter with Toothless came back to her: the Night Fury stuck in the cove, trying desperately to dig his claws into the stone as he raced around, searching for a means of freedom, screeching and clawing wherever and whenever he could, to no avail...

But that wouldn't happen to her. Toothless had been an enraged dragon whose instincts were driving him to get out as soon as possible. She had been studying it for days, practicing her climbing on the largest boulders and rocks she could, slowly improving upon herself until she decided she was ready. She had analyzed the wall, learned its strengths and weaknesses, as a Viking might their greatest enemy. Even if she wasn't human, she still had _plenty_ of experience climbing cliffs, mountains, and otherwise, and…

 _And I can do this,_ She affirmed.

With that, she started up the face of the rock, trying not to think about how much it would hurt if she fell.

* * *

Syl thought about heading back to the Village, before deciding she didn't want to. She wasn't in the mood to deal with the twins, nor fend off Snotlout's approaches, as much as she felt like punching someone. And Fishlegs… Well, she didn't have the time, and the boy was frightened far too easily.

How was Astrid so _meddlesome?_ The girl simply refused to put her trust in her, even though Syl was already putting her life on the line for _her -_ and for no good reason, at that. The least she could do was show her a little gratitude, rather than question everything she did. Even if she _had_ lied about what happened…

Eventually, she settled on giving Hiccup a visit. He was among the few people she still had a shred of respect for - and that list seemed to be growing longer by the day. Besides, she knew at least _he_ wouldn't argue with her about anything.

"Alright, Stormfly. Let's go find out if this legendary book has been any use at all," she said, leaning down to speak in the dragon's ear.

With a warble, the Nadder picked up speed, and despite herself, Syl flung her arms out to either side, letting the wind run over them. As much as she hated dragons, she had decided that the feeling of flight was one that would never be matched by anything else. To soar up and up, higher and higher, to run her fingers through the clouds… Needless to say, she had gotten over her flight-sickness quickly, thanks to Hiccup's rigorous flying routines in the academy. Eventually, she had to abandon all of her concern and fear to the dragon's ability, but once she did… _Free_ was the only way she could describe it, the way it felt.

And of course, she would die before telling Astrid or Hiccup any of that. Or anyone else, for that matter.

Toothless gave out a _coo_ as they landed on the ledge. As she slipped off the saddle, some small part of her mind told her that was meant to be taken as a greeting, but she brushed it off, marching straight up to the door. Then she pushed on it, planning to give Hiccup the surprise of his life.

It wouldn't budge.

Confused, she shoved harder against it, letting out a long grunt. She heard Toothless rumble deeply from behind her, and cursed. Curling her hand into a fist, she rapped on the door.

"Hiccup? Are you in there?" She growled, before giving another half-hearted shove at the door.

The sound of footsteps came from inside, followed by a sharp "Ow!" Then the door opened a crack, and Hiccup's head popped out.

"Oh! Hey, Syl… What're you doing here?" He smiled awkwardly, as though he were trying to tell her something. She didn't care.

"I'm bored, and your girlf... _Astrid's_ being pretentious."

"Preten…" He frowned. "Well, listen, if you're, uh, bored… Fishlegs is doing some research on dragon illnesses for me. I'm sure he'd love some help on that. Or-"  
"Ugh, that sounds even worse," Syl kicked the door frame. "The guy can barely form a sentence when I'm within earshot, never mind say something to me in person. He's worse than you." It was true. She had learned quickly that she held a lot of sway in the village - she raised her voice even the slightest bit and even adults snapped to attention as though she were holding a knife to their throats, which, to keep up appearances, she oftentimes would. It was certainly a change from her previous reputation, but she had caught on quickly. The rush of power she got from it made it that much easier. That didn't mean, of course, that there weren't still problems.

The twins and Snotlout were talkative enough - _more_ than enough - but Fishlegs was a whole different story. She had to speak in the quietest voice she could muster - which was especially hard, given that she still hadn't learned to use 'her' voice - to get so much as a word out of him. And yet, when he started talking - _especially_ if it concerned dragons - it took just as much effort to get him to shut up. For a boy at least three times her size, she was surprised he had the courage to live around dragons at all, never mind train and ride them.

"Well, y'know… We, uh, can't always have what we want, Syl," he said with a cough.

"Yeah, speaking of which," she replied, "What's the deal with you and the witch? Found anything yet?"

"Um… Hang on," he said. Then, with a quick glance back into the house, he stepped outside, closing the door shut behind him.

"Well?"

"See, uh," he swallowed, avoiding her glance. "She- I mean we, haven't really found anything yet. At least, I don't think so, because-"

"She _still_ hasn't let you see it yet?" Syl asked, incredulous. "Unbelievable! Hiccup, you - _we -_ got that book for her. This is _your_ dragon and _your_ girlfriend you're worried about, right?"

"Uh, y-yeah?" He stammered.

"Then why do you keep letting her get away with this stuff?"

He sighed. "She's the Village Elder-"

"To hell with the elders! I'm going in there," she made a move for the door, before Hiccup stepped in front of her.

"I… Don't think you should do that. Gothi said that you're, uh, not allowed in there anymore," he winced, probably expecting her to slap him. She had to admit, she was tempted.

Instead, she closed her mouth and turned away, refusing to look at him. Hiccup, the fearless Dragon Conqueror, could not even stand up to a crazy old woman to read a _book,_ of all things _._ Not that she cared, but...

"She obviously knows much more about it than me, and we need to get whatever we need out of it as soon as possible," he explained. "Besides, it's not like I should really be looking at it, anyway. Gods, me alone with a magic book? You'd be better off giving it to the twins. At least they've made some stuff that actually works. I'd probably just manage to blow up the entire town with whatever's in there. Not that I haven't already-"

"Hiccup," she stopped him. Something had caught her eye.

"What?" He asked. "You know, it is kinda rude to keep interrupting me like this-"

"Hiccup, please," she said. "Just shut up for a moment."

She pointed down into the village, just beyond the docks. Hiccup followed her gaze and squinted.

"Were those ships there yesterday?" She asked, gesturing to three larger longships with red sails sitting dormant in the harbor.

"Which… Oh," Hiccup's eyes widened. "Oh, gods, no, they're-" he spun around, and ran back into the hut before he finished. It didn't matter - she already knew what he was about to say.

His father had returned.

She heard a few quick words from inside the hut, and Hiccup reappeared a moment later, holding the book in both hands.

"Come on, get Stormfly. We need to get this back before my Dad sees it's gone… Or at least explain why it is."

She raised an eyebrow, but he didn't respond. It took her a moment to realize why.

He glanced around, searching the ledge. "Where's Toothless?"

* * *

 _Gods, Damn it all!_ Astrid let loose a roar as she tumbled down the slope, _again_.

She had been climbing and falling for what felt like ages, even if the sun told her it couldn't have been more than an hour. Her legs and muscles ached in places that hadn't existed when she was a human. Rocks kept falling near and sometimes on her head, and though her natural instinct was to duck around them, she soon learned that not even the sharpest could scratch her, anyway. Still, that didn't make them hurt any less, and she had begun to wonder how badly a dragon's hide could bruise.

On top of that, each time she fell back, her wings and tailfin nearly flung themselves out on their own, and she had to make a conscious effort to keep them closed, to fall to the ground below more naturally. She was already starting to regret it, but if what Toothless had said about breaking a wing was true…

Rolling back over for the umpteenth time, she stood up and paced back and forth in front of the cliff. It was a worthy challenger indeed, she had decided - but she would not be so easily discouraged. She had spent much more time on much harder goals, and she had never been one to quit that easily - or at all. She wasn't about to start today.

Squinting in the sunlight, her eyes swept back over the cliff, looking for a new path. Left, to the smaller foothold, then right, maybe? Or right, then right again, then left? It was a puzzle she was hell-bent on solving, even if it killed her, which, it seemed at the moment, it very well might.

She wasn't just tired - she was _exhausted._ A few rushed attempts, the result of her anger at the cliff or over-enthusiasm, had left her wincing and panting at the bottom, hot saliva pouring off her tongue as deep breaths wracked her lungs for air. It was an experience she wanted to avoid going through again, though she knew if she had to do this for much longer, she would surely have to.

 _This will be my last try for today, then,_ she concluded. _Let's make it count._

After a moment, she had decided on a path - a bit more complicated and dangerous than her previous attempts, but it was the last unused option she could see. She would have to be quick, though; on top of being small, the platforms she was aiming for looked unstable, ready to collapse at any moment. And the further up they went, the worse they appeared to be.

Backing up a bit first, she jumped, landing on the boulder that had served as her point of entry for the cliff since she started. Then, once again, she began.

It was a series of jumps, at first - the wall was divided at the bottom, which left a lot of shelves for her to jump between and stand on. As it got higher, however, she had been forced to change her viewpoint on the wall. Ledges and cliffs she could have stood on easily as a human now barely provided footholds to dig her claws into. It was disconcerting, but more than that, annoying. Every step was a reminder of how much she had changed, what she had lost - or more accurately, gained. She had trained to be slim, lithe, flexible. She still had the body for it, even then - but on a much larger scale. She'd have to learn to adapt if she was ever going to get out of that place, she knew, and so, she did.

She took another leap. The ground rumbled beneath her feet as she landed, something she still hadn't gotten used to. It just served as another reminder of how careful she would have to be from then on.

She began to pause more and more frequently between her jumps. The distances were getting longer, the platforms smaller. She had already fallen countless times there at the beginning - she wasn't about to lose there again. Not on her last try.

Letting loose a growl, she made one more leap, nearly falling off the platform with her own momentum, only catching herself at the last moment. This was the last of the jumps. From there, she would have to climb - _really_ climb. The task was daunting, but a quick look down would confirm Astrid's suspicions - she had almost reached the highest point she had been all morning. There was no turning back. At least, none that would end well.

She launched her front legs up onto the cliff. True climbing was both much easier and much harder than jumping. Upright and parallel to the rock, limbs stretched above and below her, her old instincts kicked back in as she scaled the stone. The way she moved her limbs from handhold to handhold then wasn't really very different from how she might've done it before her transformation. It felt natural, and if she ignored the tail and wings, she almost, _almost_ felt like a human again. It was enough to keep her going.

Still, the disadvantages of a dragon persisted. Without proper hands, she was forced to use her claws to dig into the hard dirt and stone. Though she had toyed with extending and contracting them into her feet before, coordinating them on all four feet at once was an entirely new challenge. some of the time they would dig in on their own, and she was surprised as she found herself well rooted into certain smaller cracks in the rock, and tiny ledges.

Time slipped away as she climbed, focusing only on the next ledge, then the next, until she grunted, and looked up. Just three more shelves, and she would be free from the cove.

Then she looked down, and instantly regretted it.

A fall from that height wouldn't kill her - that much she knew. As a human, probably, but luckily, the scale was changed in that aspect, as well. With the way she was leaning against the side of the cliff, she would only just have enough time to twist herself around when she fell, before her feet hit the ground. Even then, she would definitely break some, if not all of the bones in her legs, assuming she was able to get them out in front of her in time. If she were to let them, her wings might open in time enough for her to glide to safety - but she wished to avoid that at all costs, of course. After all, the whole point of scaling the wall was to _avoid_ flying, wasn't it?

And so, the only way was up.

Taking a deep breath, she put her left front foot up, then her right back. She was only just able to pull her remaining hind leg up to the next foothold when the ledge it was resting on collapsed. Her claws sunk into the dirt and stone suddenly as she watched the stones tumble down the cliff, then shatter on the rocks at the bottom.

She stood there for a moment. She would have to find another way out of the cove the next time, she realized. Maybe there wouldn't even _be_ a next time…

 _So I'll just have to make the most of it this time around._ She thought.

Eventually, her eyes travelled up to the last two handholds. They were only a few feet below the edge of the grass, but they were, of course, the most treacherous yet - they would barely be big enough for her to sink her claws into, and one seemed likely to collapse if she so much as looked at it the wrong way. On top of that, There would be no place to put her rear feet except against the flat stone face, and so she would be relying entirely on her front legs and claws to hang on. From there, though, she'd jump up to the top, and would be free of the cove, at last.

Steeling herself, she reached up for one ledge with a paw. Then she began to move her other, letting her hind legs leave the surface of their shelves-

" _Trying to escape already, huh?"_

Astrid screeched. Her claws retracted, and her foot slipped off of the ledge. For a terrifying second, she was in absolute freefall. Then, she felt something pressing around her throat, _tight_. She figured it must've been the feeling of her neck breaking, or perhaps she had managed to hang herself from a loose, dead vine, but she knew neither could be true. She hadn't been falling long enough, and not even the strongest of vines could support her weight. On top of that, whatever it was felt very wet...

She opened her eyes and saw that the Night Fury's maw was clamped around her neck. She was still hanging limply over the side of the cliff, but somehow, Toothless was holding up the entirety of her body weight, grunting under the pressure. He was slipping, however - he wouldn't be able to hold her for much longer. It was a miracle he had kept his grip for that long at all.

She flailed her legs against the stone, searching for a place to launch off from, until they found the remains of a dead tree bulging stubbornly out of the cliff. She wrapped her feet and claws around it and looked back up at Toothless.

" _Ready?"_ She growled. He didn't respond, though she felt his grip tighten.

With another grunt, she pushed off from the tree with her hind legs. At the same time, he pulled her up, and she scrambled her feet madly on the flat ground above until her claws locked into the dirt. Slowly, tediously, she was pulled up onto the ledge, Toothless's grip so tight around her that she couldn't breathe.

With what little energy she still had, she was able to get one of her back legs onto the cliff, then roll herself over onto the top. Scooting away from the ledge, she felt Toothless maw loosen around her neck. She took a huge gasp of cool air, before collapsing to the ground in absolute exhaustion. Toothless followed soon after, taking a few deep breaths of his own.

They both laid there for a moment, recovering. Then, once she had mustered the energy, she slapped him with her tail.

" _What was that for?"_ He asked, his semi-casual tone infuriating her even more." _That ledge was going to collapse, otherwise. I had a feeling you were up to something, and of course, you've already almost killed yourself, or worse, broken one of your wings. I saved your life - you're welcome."_

" _That,"_ she answered, reeling back around on him with a snarl of her own, " _was for jumping me! I would've been fine, otherwise. Do you want me to die?!"_

They sat there, each not speaking to the other. Eventually, however, curiosity got the better of Astrid, and she needed to know if she was right. Crawling back over to the side of the cliff, she looked down at her last two footholds, just a few feet below. Slowly, she reached down a paw to test its strength, but as soon as she touched it, it crumbled. The same went for the other. She felt Toothless's presence come up beside her, and they watched together as the rocks plummeted down the cliff to join the rest that had fallen.

He let out a yawn. " _Unless I'm wrong, this is usually the part where you would give Hiccup what you humans call a kiss-"_

" _In your dreams, 'bud,'"_ she rolled her eyes. " _But… Thank you, you useless reptile."_

He smirked and looked back out over the cove. She followed his gaze, taking a moment to admire her accomplishment.

Though she had seen it from the ground and above plenty of times before, she began to see what Hiccup liked about it so much. To see it from above was like viewing an island from the sea. Even if she knew the same feelings of entrapment would return the moment she went back down… It was a nice view of her home, at least.

" _Beautiful, isn't it?"_ Toothless asked, turning to her. " _I didn't really know what that word meant before I got stuck here. For those of the blood - dragons - beauty is largely a foreign concept. We… we see so much of the world, it's hard to focus on the smaller parts. But the more time I spent here, the more I learned to appreciate it. It became my new nest. It was… Refreshing. I had spent so much time living in the queen's mountain, under her rule. I… Never knew there could be another place for me. We were made to believe that any land outside of the nest was cursed, evil - no dragons ever returned once they landed. The Queen told us… She was protecting us, even if…"_

His voice faded, and he frowned, as did she. The Night Fury was rarely this talkative, especially of the Queen. She could understand why - she had seen what she had done to dragons who didn't serve her. To think that some of them were probably his friends… Hiccup would be dying to hear about this later, she knew. Maybe it had something to do with this illness he was so reluctant to tell them about. She could understand why that, as well - any proud warrior on Berk would likely die before admitting to an injury causing them any pain. But with the way Hiccup made his 'attacks' sound…

He blinked. " _But it wasn't like that for the first few weeks. I just needed to get out, escape at all costs. This place wasn't a nest, it was-"_

" _A cage,"_ she finished. He nodded slowly, looking back down into the cove.

" _Even with Hiccup, I woke up with every rising sun wondering if that day would be my last,"_ he paused. " _So… What did it for you? What drove you past the edge?"_

She sighed. " _Syl."_

" _The girl?"_ He chuckled a deep, Toothless chuckle. " _I suppose I could understand that… But you're lying. What is it, really?"_

She shrugged. " _I'm serious. Syl was the one who pushed me. If I had to stand one more second knowing that any moment she could swoop down in here on Stormfly and-"_

" _Alright, fine,"_ he said, rolling his eyes. " _Avoid the question, if you like. But I know why."_

He stared into her eyes, and she was forced to stare back " _There's an ache, isn't there? An ache to roam, to stray to places unknown, to be free. It's in a dragon's blood. We were not born to live and die on the ground, as humans do. That's in your nature now, too, whether you like it or not."_

She didn't respond. He sighed, and looked down into the cove, then back up at her.

" _You're never going to do this again."_

Her eyes flashed as she turned to face him. " _What?"_

" _Don't pretend you haven't considered it, Astrid,"_ he told her. " _That was your last way out of the cove - there are no other paths out, not by land. We both know that. The next time you go down in there, you're either coming back out as a human, or not at all. Unless…"_

He paused, and stalked around her once, as though inspecting her somehow. He sniffed her wings and tail as he reached them, making her shiver and back away from him.

" _Unless you learn how to fly."_

She growled. " _Never."_

He purred, staring straight into her eyes again.

" _I've been kind about this, Astrid,"_ he began. " _I haven't asked you - not at all. You should be grateful for that. Stormfly won't stop talking about how great it would be for you to fly alongside her. Never mind her excitement over all the other changes you've been through."_

Her eyes widened. Did Stormfly really like her better as a… as a Night Fury? It couldn't be, she knew. The bond they shared was one between rider and dragon, not dragon and… other dragon. She was sure of that. Yet the way Toothless had said it...

" _But you know how to use your tail about as well as most dragons I know, and you've already learned how to move your wings, as well,"_ he continued. " _It takes most newborn dragons months before they can even feel them. The instincts are there - you just need to let them-"_

" _Take over? No,"_ she cut him off, " _the tail was only because I had to -_ have _to. It's constantly getting in the way, and I can't just have it dragging around everywhere. The wings I had to learn because your selfish ass wasn't willing to help me out when I flipped over the other day._

" _Besides,"_ she added, as an afterthought. " _What use would it have? It's not like I'm leaving the cove, anyway."_

He tilted his head curiously. " _And yet, here we are."_

She was about to respond before she felt something… Strange, like a light tingling inside of her head. Sort of like a headache, though it didn't quite hurt so much. For a moment, she almost thought she could hear a voice, as well…

Toothless seemed to feel it, too, as he narrowed his eyes at nothing in particular, letting out a slow, deep growl.

" _Can you feel that, too?"_ She asked.

He nodded. " _It's Hiccup. Something's wrong."_

It was her turn to narrow her eyes. " _Hiccup? How do you… Oh."_

If she focused hard enough, she realized that the voice did sound distinctively nasally, and familiar. But how…

" _Is this from the…?"_ She gestured at her snout with her paw, imitating the bond formed between dragon and rider. He nodded again.

" _That's… Terrifying,"_ she decided. To know where their riders were, if they were in pain, or being harmed… Stormfly had known about her, Toothless had always known about Hiccup, and now, she would share in that feeling as well. Trapped in that cove, with nothing she could do about it….

The dragon seemed to read her thoughts, as he replied, " _It fades depending on how far away he is, or their fear…_ _If he were in any real danger, this would feel much worse, and we would start seeing red. At least, that's what has happened in the past. This is very new to all of us, as you can imagine. Still, he seems distressed…"_

Her eyes widened. " _His father..."_

" _What?"_

" _His father, the Chief,"_ she explained. " _He was supposed to get back today. Hiccup needed to get the book back before he returned…"_

Toothless nodded. " _I should go, then."_

" _Toothless,"_ she said as he turned to leave. " _You said you came down here - all the way from Gothi's hut, if I'm not mistaken - because you thought something was going to happen to me. Did you… Feel that, too?"_

" _Just a guess,"_ he smiled at her. " _We're not so different, Astrid. Both stuck in this cove, both thinking we would never fly - never again, in my case. But here I am,"_ \- he held up his tail - " _A downed dragon, flying once more. If this cove has taught me anything, it's that things can change even if you think they never will."_

She wanted to respond, but Toothless had already turned away. As he sprinted off into the forest, however, he sent her one last thought.

" _I envy you, Astrid. A Night Fury, alone in the wilderness, no missing limbs or humans to hold you back. Enjoy your day of freedom, as I have a feeling you'll look back on it fondly for many more days to come."_

* * *

"Oh, how the gods must _hate_ me," Hiccup moaned, as Stormfly circled down onto the Great Hall.

It had only taken him a few seconds to decide to take the Nadder back to the Village - if Toothless had left, he probably wasn't planning on coming back soon, and he didn't have the time to look for him.

Still, Stormfly was marginally slower than the Night Fury, and it took them a few minutes to get down to Great Hall, even though he pushed her to go faster until she nearly screeched in fear. Syl clung onto him for dear life, and Hiccup had a feeling he would see that her face was greener than dragon nip if he were ever to look back at her. Still, she didn't complain for the duration of the ride, probably because all the air had been sucked out of her lungs after the initial dive.

But it wasn't enough. From the sky, they could see that a throng of Vikings was gathered around the front entrance of the Great Hall. The wooden doors were flung wide open - his father was already inside. He was too late.

"Take this," he said, slipping Syl the book as they landed behind a few startled Vikings. "Hide it. For now, at least. I'd like to at least try to explain this to him before he sees me, uh, walk in with it."

"Wait," she called after him, as he slid off Stormfly's back. "Hiccup! There's something I should tell you!"

He fought back a groan as his mismatched feet carried him to the front doors. "Just, uh, hold that thought, Syl! You can tell me later… assuming my Dad doesn't kill me, that is," he added with a mutter.

His heart sank as he pushed his way through the burly Vikings blocking the entrance. Some of them stared at him as he walked by, and the looks on their faces made him wince. The fact that they dared not even enter the Great Hall showed enough about what his father's temper must have been when he stormed in.

He ran through all the scenarios he could think of in his head. Maybe his father hadn't made it to the back room yet - if so, he could try to stall him, and Syl could sneak around and put the book back in the safe. Of course, he hadn't told her to do that, and the plan was ridiculous - but he had tried even crazier before, and gotten away with it.

But this, of course, was not the case. He could see as soon as he walked into the Hall a faint light coming from a door at the far end. He slowed down to a halt, and his whole body slumped.

 _Alright, Hiccup,_ he sighed. _Time to own up to it._ _No more options, no more plans, not this time. Just the truth._

Still, his steps slowed as he reached the back room. Gobber's form was outlined in the doorway, no doubt unable to enter the room - his father was called "Stoick the Vast" for a reason.

"Hiccup!" He said as he reached the door. "Yer father-"

"I know," he cut him off. Gobber just shrugged and moved aside.

Hiccup took a deep breath. "Hey, Dad."

His father stared down at him from inside the room, emotionless. He would've glanced down at the safe if he hadn't been so frozen in place by his glare.

"I can, uh, explain," he squeaked. "I just, y'know… It was Mildew, he, uh… I meant to get it back sooner but I needed it for-"

He stopped. His father showed no signs of having heard him. He took another deep breath, and let it out through a sigh.

"The point is, Dad, I'm really sorry. I needed to do it for… For Toothless. I didn't… Uh…" His voice trailed off as he looked up at his father.

He thought he was just hearing things at first, but after a moment, his suspicions were confirmed.

His father was chuckling.

He closed his eyes, anticipating the worst, but when he opened them, a smile had formed under his thick, braided beard, and his chuckle had turned into an all-out laugh. Gobber joined in a few seconds later, and Hiccup eventually gave a weak snort, letting a smile creep onto his own face as well.

He was dead meat.

In his mind, he ran through all the things he could have done - _should_ have done - before his father got back. At the very least, he could've put a different lock on the safe, or even just the original. That way, it might not have looked so obviously broken. Still, his father would know they had done something to it, and… No matter what, it all came down to one fact - he should have put the book back. If only he had acted sooner…

"Sorry? _Sorry?"_ His father suddenly broke off his laughter.

"Uh, yeah," he quavered. "I'm really, uh, sorry, Dad. I didn't want this to happen, I swear."

His father stared at him for a moment. Then he burst out laughing again.

"Ah, my boy! It's good to be back. Almost forgot how much I love your sarcasm, son. That is what ye' call it, isn't it? Anyways, I'm proud of you! That's what I'm trying to say. You kept your word."

Hiccup's father seemed to loom over him. Then again, he always did. "I… I did?"

It was then that he was finally able to rip his stare away from his father. As suspected, the safe was wide open. However, the lock on it didn't appear to have been broken off. And in his father's hands was…

"Ah, this?" His father held up the book. "The Compendium you've been so worried about, lately. Just wanted to make sure you hadn't thought about stealing it… But you're better than that, Hiccup. I knew you wouldn't."

He might have responded if he were able to close his jaw. His mind was racing, trying to understand how this could be possible. None of it made any sense. Unless…

"Hey, Chief. Glad to see you're back."

Hiccup snapped his head around. Syl was leaning against the doorframe, looking without a care in the world, arms crossed over her chest. He hadn't even heard her walk up.

"Astrid!" His father continued to chuckle. "Always a pleasure to see you, as well. I assume ye' didn't get into too much trouble while I was away, did ye?"

Hiccup felt himself blush, but Syl only smiled. "Oh, nothing too bad. But you know us…" She stepped out of the doorway and, unbelievably, she slung an arm around his shoulder. More in a friendly way than anything else. Still, Hiccup's senses seemed to reawaken then, as he instinctively shied away from her. Syl only rolled her eyes and crossed her arms again.

Still smiling at them, Stoick raised an eyebrow. "Hiccup, if you'll allow me a word…?" He gestured back out the door, at Gobber.

Wordlessly, he moved aside, as did Syl. Although he had to face it from the side, his father was somehow able to walk through the door. Once Hiccup was sure they were out of earshot, he stared at her, puzzled. Had she done this? It didn't seem akin to her nature at all, _especially_ after the conversation they had the night before… but the glint in her eye suggested otherwise.

"Did… Did you…?" He whispered.

She shrugged. "It was late. I was bored. So, I decided I needed a project."

"You…" He shook his head. "You were outside… My Dad was already here, but you got it back in the safe. How...?"

"I didn't." She smiled again. "I took a gamble, and it seems to have paid off, for your sake. You'll see. The point is, you owe me, _big_ time. Got it?"

Hiccup nodded, swallowing hard. He heard his father and Gobber's voices approaching the doorway, and their conversation was cut short.

"... Never thought my own son would be the one asking for…" His voice trailed off as he saw him.

"Hiccup," he said, his voice becoming stern and direct. Hiccup was relieved, in fact - it was the first normal thing to happen to him in a while.

"Uh, Dad," he replied.

His father opened his mouth, then closed it. Then, he looked past him into the small back room, nodding as his eyes passed over the various armor and rusted weapons lying in it, before finally coming to rest on the safe.

"I suppose you know where it is, now," he said. "The Compendium, that is. We've kept it locked in a safe here for years - long before you were born."

He sighed and held the book out in front of him. For the first time, Hiccup got a chance to look at it since he had gotten there. What he saw confused him - but only for a moment.

It wasn't the real book.

The leather cover and size were roughly the same. The words etched on the front were, as well. But he had held and studied the book long enough to know this was no more than a replica. His eyes flashed up to Syl, and suddenly, he understood her smile. He couldn't help but hold back a grin of his own, as well.

It _was_ a gamble. If his father had known the book any better, he would've instantly recognized it as a fake. But he hadn't picked up the book in years, and probably hadn't ever opened it at all. He had always considered reading to be a waste of time, anyway.

 _Besides,_ Hiccup thought with a smirk, _two Night Furies, two Astrids… Why not add another duplicate into the mix?_

"But it doesn't matter. Because it's time I admit something," Stoick continued. "You're not the same boy you were a few years ago. You're going to be Chief some day. It's time I start treating you like that."

He shoved the book forward. Hiccup's eyes widened.

"I've changed my mind. You can have the book, Hiccup, as much as I wish you wanted otherwise."

His hands shaking, he reached out to take it, gasped slightly as the weight of the duplicate fell into his hands.

"Th-thanks," he stuttered. "I… That's it?"

"Well, you do remember our deal, don't you?" His father questioned. "I expect you to keep up your end of the bargain for me. Can you do that?"

"Our deal..." He said. His breathing grew shaky as he recalled what he had told his father.

 _I'll do the… The thing, that… That we talked about the other night, in the Great Hall... If you let me have the book… I'll go._

"The deal," he squeaked.

He shouldn't have done this at all. He never thought his father would actually accept it, but in his desperation, it seemed like the only thing he had to offer him, his only leverage. It would take a lot of his time away from him. He didn't want to put Toothless through that much, either, not in the state he was in, and he would have to cut off a lot of his time doing research. But Gothi still needed the book, and if this he couldn't just say no…

 _What am I getting myself into?_ He wondered.

"Yeah, the deal," he said. "I'll… I'll do it." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Syl raise an eyebrow, and he winced.

"Good," his father said, resting a hand on his shoulder. "You fly out tomorrow at dawn for your first trip. Be ready."

Then, without another word, he left.


	21. The Secrets

Hello, everyone! I'm back!

 **Very,** _ **very**_ **sorry for the delay, I've been quite busy lately, what with the end of school and all. Another quick housekeeping note - yes, I spell "Hel" differently in this chapter. When it's used as a swear, I've decided, I'll use the spelling "Hell," whereas the specific goddess or place will use its actual Norse spelling. Is it historically accurate? Probably not, but this makes a lot more sense naturally, in my opinion. Sue me.**

 **Some other things, partially to make up for my tardiness - the keen reader will notice that I've updated the cover image, and changed the summary up slightly, too. I'm pretty happy with each of them now, though, and so I doubt they'll be changing anytime soon, but… there ya' go. Anyway, many thanks to all you continued readers (the number seems to go up every day!) and remember to follow for updates and review!**

 **I don't own How to Train Your Dragon.**

* * *

 _ **A Few Days Earlier**_

"Your Dad wants to see you," Syl blurted, interrupting the short moment of tranquility as she remembered his request. "He, uh… He said he needed to talk to you about something."

Hiccup sighed. "Great. That's _definitely_ a good sign."

He looked around quickly, before turning back to her. "Meet me back at your house. I'll be there in a few minutes… Probably."

Syl nodded, and he moved around her, toward the warm light emanating from the cracks of the door. He opened it and slipped inside as quietly as he could, just able to hear Syl curse Stormfly's breed as he drew it shut behind him.

The Hall hadn't changed much. The night had drawn darker, and many of the Vikings filling the room before had long-since stumbled back to their beds, likely to regret their late-night drinking deeply the next morning. His Dad was still there, though, along with a few of his friends, and Snotlout's father. The dim light of the golden dragon cast his shadow high and deep on the wall behind him, the horns of his helm making him appear as some ancient beast of legend. Still, he was in good spirits, or at least appeared to be. He took that as a good sign, though he still slowed his approach as he reached him.

He kept his mouth shut as he walked up to them. If he was lucky, his father would forget whatever he wanted to talk to him about, and shoo him away. That would be the best-case scenario, of course…

"Hiccup!" He winced as his father caught sight of him, beckoning him into his group. Pinning his arms to his sides, he shuffled up to him.

"I see Astrid passed along my message. I trust your flight out with her went smoothly?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

Before he could respond, one of the more drunken of his father's friends called out, "The boy's got 'imself a girl! More than I could say for myself, at that age. Not tha' I ever trained a dragon, either. Your son's really got a lot goin' for him, Stoick! He'd best make sure not to get 'imself in too much trouble with her, though. Hear me, Hiccup?"

Some of the Vikings chuckled, and Hiccup blushed, glancing around first to make sure Astrid's father hadn't heard him. Luckily, he seemed to have gone home - or never been there in the first place.

"Aye, you're right," Stoick said, smiling down at him. "The boy's done a lot for this tribe, and for me, already. He deserves respect, and someday, he'll take my place at the table," there were some murmurs of agreement from the others.

 _It would've been laughter a few years ago,_ he thought to himself.

He didn't like this - not a bit. The looming figures of each of his father's friends made him uneasy at best, but it was his father's words that scared him. The last time they'd had a talk like this, his father had put him in charge of all dragon-related duties on Berk. The time before that had been dragon training on the day he met Toothless. A bad feeling had been sitting in the pit of his stomach since he had walked into the room, and things weren't looking up.

"Uh, thanks, Dad," he mumbled, forcing a smile on his face. Once again, he was reminded of how much he would've given for his father to say things like this to him before the war had ended. Yet here he was, wanting to slink out of there as soon as he could. He never did well as the center of attention.

"You've proven you can handle dragons, Hiccup. That much is clear, to all of us," he said, gesturing around to his friends with his mug of ale. "But there's more to being a Chief than that. Not so much 'as changed, and yet, many things have as well. It's a problem ye' can imagine I've been dealing with for a while now."

He frowned. His father was never this talkative, or this honest - especially when it came to his own position. He shifted on his feet.

"But, what would you know, a solution's come to me just today. I think it took you disappearing a few days straight for me to realize it," he explained, with a chuckle at the end. "A way to combine your know-how of dragons, and your lessons in becoming a Chief, hands-on."

His spirits brightened a bit, at this. It sounded great - or at least much better than their awkward nightly lessons in learning to run the Village. Of course, with his father, it was never that simple.

His tone grew deathly serious as he continued, "As you know, Hiccup… We're at war. Or we will be, soon enough. Now, I know you wish to avoid that. Believe me, we all do. Vikings or not, we don't want any more blood spilled on this island, dragon or otherwise."

Hiccup swallowed hard. He _really_ didn't like where this was going.

"But if tensions keep rising with the Veiklaðar tribe, that may well be the case. If so, we need to be prepared. They're not the only ones who disagree with your new way of life, Hiccup. They have friends, and so, we have enemies. If they were able to enlist Dagur's help in all this, as well… The point is, we need to have more friends than they do when the time comes. That's where you come in."

He paused. Hiccup sucked in his breath.

"I've decided to relaunch the diplomacy missions," he said, with an air of splendor only Stoick the Vast could pull off while talking about politics. "And I want you to lead them."

Hiccup stuttered, "I… W-what?"

"The first trips were important," his father went on, ignoring him. "We got to know which of those were willing to take in dragons, and which weren't. The Veiklaðars, we've learned, were among the latter. But there were also many left undecided, as you'll remember."

Hiccup nodded slowly. After the war had ended, the voyages to other tribes had seemed necessary, if only to prove their claims were true. While it took some convincing for most tribes to believe Vikings and dragons could work alongside one another, some eventually agreed to at least give it a try. Though a few did it out of curiosity or understanding, the majority were simply old friends of Stoick, and were more than happy that their homes were no longer being raided anymore. As he remembered one Chief telling Stoick with a laugh, "Hell, if it means my children won't be wakin' up in the middle of the night to find their house is on fire, I'll invite these dragons in for supper right now!"

And that they did - or so it seemed. The letters or messengers that reached them in the weeks afterward had promising news - Chiefs and Vikings sent word back to him and his father of children and adults alike learning to bond with dragons in the same way Berk did, and live amongst them. Some even suggested new ways for them to work and live together that even Hiccup hadn't thought of.

Not all the tribes were quite so enthusiastic, however. Those opposed to the idea would almost all unflinchingly turn them away as soon as they began to explain the dragons on their boats and ships; some refused to even let them come ashore. Either way, the accusations were the same - they were an insult to all Vikings, mad men. Befriending the dragons was a decision that would get them all killed, they claimed. They would never have their support. At least those Vikings had prepared him to deal with people like Syl, if nothing else.

And then, of course, there were the unknowns. A portion of the islands they visited - mainly the smaller ones - responded with wary confusion and uncertainty. Almost all of them simply told them they would discuss amongst themselves and decide, though, at the very least, they told them they would end the generations-old "kill-on-sight" rule with wild dragons. Still, most simply turned them away, too afraid and astounded to do anything else. He could understand that - to reason with people, he had to see from another point of view. It was as much tradition to them as it was to Berk, only they didn't have a Queen dragon the size of a mountain to change their minds. It just wasn't going to be that simple. Nonetheless, he still hoped he would eventually get word back from them heralding peace with the dragons, or any word at all. And from how his father made it sound, it seemed like he would be getting his wish...

"First you'd speak to the clans that we're already allied with. We 'ave treaties with them now, but we'll just need a signed declaration of fealty from them - I have the papers all written up, all you'd need to do is give 'em to them. Make sure ye' get a handshake on it, as well. Besides, it's a good thing if they start seeing you as the face of Berk anyway, the way I see it," he smiled as though he thought this was the best idea he had ever come up with - and he probably did.

"As for the others... Well, I figure those that never got back to us might need a little convincing. A Night Fury might do it, I think."

Hiccup's eyes widened. His father, seeing his alarm, continued, "Now, I know what you're thinking. I'm not telling you to threaten them. What I mean is that seeing my son riding a _Night Fury,_ the very offspring of Lightning and Death… Might convince them to change their ways, along with your reasoning. Not that you're not the kind that they would expect on a Night Fury, of course. You're just, eh…" He waved a hand at him.

Hiccup sighed. "You just gestured to all of me."

"Yes, well, you know what I mean," his father said. "So… What do you say?"

Once again, he swallowed. If any of his father's friends had been distracted before, they certainly weren't then - each of their faces seemed to loom over him like the Norse gods themselves. Not to mention Stoick himself - his smile was so big that to break it seemed like a good way to earn himself a one-way trip to eternal punishment in Hel's realm.

"Gee, Dad," he started, shuffling backward. "You, uh… You've really given me a lot to think about. Maybe I should just, uh… Take some time to, y'know…" With one last smile at his father, he turned and speed-walked to the door as quickly as he dared, not stopping until the main doors were shut behind him. It was then that he realized why Syl had seemed so happy to be out of there.

 _What the hell am I going to do?_ He wondered, slinking back down against the door.

* * *

"And that's where I went to find Syl and Toothless," Hiccup finished, gesturing to the girl and Night Fury in question.

It was the second time he had told the story that day. Syl, of course, had demanded to know what it was as soon as his father and Gobber left. Grudgingly, he agreed, after asking for a confirmation of what he already suspected she had done in return.

Then, of course, he had to tell Astrid… But he was prepared for that. At least, he thought he was. He knew the day would come when he would have to explain himself, and he was done keeping secrets from her... Or almost done, anyway.

Astrid stared at him, and he bit his lip. For some reason, she looked to be quite drained. He wasn't sure what it was - perhaps it was the way her blinks took a few seconds longer than usual, or she stumbled around a bit and groaned whenever she had to stand up. It was hard to tell when a dragon was tired, especially when it came to Night Furies. Toothless would often try to hide his fatigue from him on long trips, and would fly or walk wherever they were going until he passed out. Without any sweating or general loss in dexterity, it was nearly impossible to tell; Hiccup had to learn to moderate their time on his own. Sometimes, it seemed, the dragons' fierce and unflinching loyalty came with a price of its own.

But by all accounts, Astrid seemed exhausted. He couldn't imagine why, but he had noticed a set of slippery tracks leading down the mudslide that stopped halfway down on the flight in, as well as a few conspicuous gray scales scattered on the ledges and boulders below one of the cliffs. Toothless, who had eventually found him in the Village with Syl, had snorted derisively when he brought it up in his own personal mumbling before they landed, further perplexing him. He would have to ask Astrid about it later.

Nevertheless, she managed the ever-confident gaze he loved her for, and would have loved to see on any day… Except for this one.

 **YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME**

He wanted her to be angry. He wanted her to scream, to yell, to punch him and rip him to shreds like she was always promising she would do. That was normal - that was right. It was just her way of communicating. That aspect of her personality he had to _learn_ to love, but… he was more than willing.

But what she gave him was ten times worse. It wasn't anger or hatred. It was just…

 _Disappointment._

He rarely saw her wield it, yet it suited her more than an axe when she did. And when she _did_ , it could be just as deadly.

His heart sank. He hadn't wanted this. He _never_ wanted this - but he deserved it. For as long as they had been friends, Hiccup and Astrid had had an unspoken pact, a truce. After she found Toothless in the woods, it seemed only natural that they would confide almost everything in one another from then on - Astrid had never been one to keep many secrets, at least as far as he knew, and so that hadn't been much of a problem for him. Not that he _expected_ her to share everything with him, of course... But it was an assumption he hoped was true.

But him… With each passing year, secrets seemed to become a larger part of his life, and it kept getting easier for him to lie and make them up. This, however, was a step too far. He only hoped she could forgive him, though she had no reason to.

Syl, on the other hand, had appeared rather impassive when he told her. If anything, she seemed almost… proud. Or at least impressed.

"Hah! So you've got secrets of your own," he recalled her saying. "Good to see the future Chief of Berk actually has a pair, or grew one, at least. Can't say Astrid will be quite so pleased when she finds out her lover boy was planning on running away behind her back, though. If you want, you can practice telling her you lied with me, and I can scream at you to help get you ready."

Hiccup had politely declined, though he was beginning to regret it - it would've been nice to have the chance to say it out loud first, at the very least.

"Astrid, I…" He curled his hands into tiny balls. "I couldn't tell you. I couldn't bring myself to… to worry you like that. I didn't think it would ever really happen, that I would ever be going. My Dad, he… he makes a lot of talk about things like that, and I didn't think… I didn't think. The point is, I'm really, really sorry. You're absolutely right. I should have told you."

Glaring at him for a few moments more in silence, she whipped her head back around to Syl. He winced - the gesture spoke for itself.

 **WHERE DID YOU GET THE DECOY?**

"I made it," she said, grinning like a child presenting their fresh mud pie to a parent. Astrid frowned, unconvinced as always.

 **YES, BUT YOU COULDN'T HAVE**

 **WRITTEN A BOOK IN A SINGLE NIGHT**

 **WHERE DID YOU GET IT?**

 **WHERE IS IT NOW?**

"Stop being such a worry wart, Astrid," she teased, "But if you must know, I dropped it over the ocean. Couldn't have it just lying around the Village - somebody might pick it up, and figure out what we did. Besides, what matters," - she walked over to Stormfly's saddle, and opened a pack strapped onto it - "is that we have this."

She pulled out the Compendium, making a grand show of it, as she did with everything else. Hiccup sighed as she offered it up to him, and he looked back at her.

"I should get back to Goth-" he began, before Syl waved him off.

"Ugh, no! You can't be serious," she shook her head at him. "Before, I could understand it - you were pressed for time, whatever. But look, you _have_ this book now. All yours - thanks to me. You're heading out tomorrow anyway, right?"

Astrid gave out a small shriek of protest.

 **WAIT**

 **YOU'RE HEADING OUT TOMORROW?**

 **HICCUP, YOU NEVER TOLD ME IT WAS**

 **TOMORROW**

"You may as well use this opportunity to read it. You _do_ want to read it, don't you?" She asked, ignoring her.

He shot Astrid a look that he hoped said _we'll talk later,_ before turning back to Syl. "Even if we could, we don't have the mixture for the fire, or the ink, for that matter."

"Maybe not," Syl said, giving a shrug that made Hiccup slightly wary. "But we _do_ have the recipes to make those things."

Astrid narrowed her eyes.

 **WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?**

"Well, let's just say I was busy last night," she explained, before pulling out a piece of parchment that had been tucked into her skirt band.

"It says we need, ah, about half a cup of water, sulfur, salt-"

 **HOW DID YOU GET THAT?**

She sighed. "You really can't wait, can you, Astrid? I stopped by Gothi's place last night and picked this up from her," she said. "Listen, I already got most of the stuff on here in the Village, and I have a few bowls and mortars for us to mix everything in. I figured we could find what's left here if you want. But, if you insist, _you two_ have the final word."

Astrid stepped back, looking surprised, but still unsure. As to Hiccup...

"Well, uh," he started, eyes darting back and forth between the two of them, "I… have been wanting to read the book. Though me, reading a book on magic and potions? I'm not really sure how wise that is…"

Syl rolled her eyes. "It's simple! It has to be. Look," she pointed at the list, "I used to mess around with this kind of stuff back on the island all the time. It's pure chance that I didn't make this stuff already. In fact, I probably did. It's not super-advanced magic, it's just… Chemistry."

"Chem…" He frowned. "I still don't know, Syl. Unless you can explain what happened to Astrid with 'chemistry,' or your voice, for that matter…"

"Fine!" She said. "You chicken out on me if you like. I'm going to find some place dark, and get the rest of this stuff. Stay down here and talk about your _feelings_ with Astrid. And _I,"_ -she waved the book in his face- "will be taking this for when you change your mind. And I thought you'd actually gotten some courage…"

Hiccup sighed as she began walking back toward Stormfly, though Astrid's eyes widened. They stared at her back for a moment, cold and calculating, probably analyzing all the ways she could take her down, before she turned to him.

 **HICCUP**

 **YOU NEED TO DO IT**

"W-wait… What?" He blinked. "A few moments ago you-"

 **I KNOW WHAT I SAID**

 **BUT YOU CAN'T LET HER LEAVE WITH THAT BOOK**

 **AND I KNOW YOU WON'T**

 **USE ANY FORCE TO TAKE IT BACK.**

 **I WOULD BE GLAD TO**

 **BUT I KNOW YOU DON'T WANT THAT EITHER**

 **EITHER WAY**

 **WE CAN'T TRUST HER WITH THAT, WHATEVER IT IS**

 **JUST LOOK AT WHAT SHE DID TO ME BY ACCIDENT**

 **IMAGINE WHAT SHE COULD DO**

 **IF SHE ACTUALLY TRIED SOMETHING IN THAT BOOK**

"I don't think she plans on…" he groaned. "Alright… Syl! Wait up! I… I'll help you find what you need."

She stopped in her tracks as if on cue, and for a moment, Hiccup wondered if she had planned it all out. The recipes, the book, Astrid's reaction… It seemed to work out in her favor, though he couldn't imagine why she would do any of it, apart from making Astrid even more agitated than she normally was around her. He dismissed the thought immediately, of course... But the smirk on her lips as she turned around seemed to suggest otherwise.

* * *

The sun was well into its descent over the horizon by the time they'd finished gathering the materials for the concoctions.

It was all the same, anyway - Hiccup had suggested they wait until dark, as to ensure there would be as little outside light as possible. Even so, he still wanted to find some way to keep the book under cover - he wasn't willing to take any chances. That was, of course, if it even worked to begin with.

"Trust me, it will. It's her recipe," she had assured him as he scrutinized a very normal-looking flower.

His frown deepened. "I don't know… None of it seems very… magical, I guess. What if nothing happens? What if there's some missing ingredient?"

"If only we had a book that could explain how magic works," she replied, mocking him. "Look, it's worth the risk, and I doubt she would _purposefully_ leave anything out of a recipe. That's kind of the whole point of having it written down in the first place,"

He nodded slowly, trying to accept what she was telling him. "And Gothi would've told you, right?"

"Uh, yeah," she'd smiled. "Of course."

He had raised an eyebrow at that, but had decided against questioning her further. She had done enough for them lately, and so he had decided he had no right to question her actions - or most of them, anyway. He doubted she wanted to return to the night before, either, but someday, he knew, it would come up again, and he would get a better answer from her if it killed him. Or at least a clearer one. Until then, he would just have to wait.

"Right, I think that's everything," he stated, staring down at the various flowers, pickings, and leaves laid out below them, though it wasn't much - to the casual onlooker, it looked about the same as any other piece of ground in the forest, if a bit more diverse. Still, based on his minor knowledge of botany, it was hard to believe the combined elements would create anything useful at all, much less otherworldly. A flower almost blew away with a sudden gust of wind, and he stepped on it with his foot. It was almost a miracle in itself that they'd managed to find everything they had that late in the season, though Berk plants, like everything else, were tough - they would cling to the ground through the cold and storms until they were buried under three feet of snow.

"Or at least, everything except, ah…" His voice faded as Astrid padded into the clearing, spitting out a bunch of orange-red aspen leaves as she approached them. She scraped her tongue along her teeth as he picked them up and shook off the slime.

 **APPARENTLY**

 **I CAN ONLY TASTE FISH**

 **AND INEDIBLE PLANTS**

 **THIS HAD BETTER WORK HICCUP**

"Well, they're not necessarily _poisonous_ , or dangerous at all, for that matter…" he murmured. "Though I can't understand why you would be able to taste those - I didn't really know they had any taste at all, actually. Maybe it's because, uh… Sorry, I'm getting off topic again," he finished at Astrid's sharp glare.

"It _will_ work," Syl told her. "Have a little faith. This is a chance at getting your life back, remember?"

Astrid grumbled, but didn't reply.

"Okay… So what do we do first?" Hiccup asked after a few seconds of silence had passed.

"Just... mix them all together, I guess," she shrugged, leading to another round of grumbling from Astrid.

"Well, there is a specific order…" He took the papers out of Syl's hands after peering at them over her shoulder for a moment. "And we'll have to mix them separately for the fire and the ink. Syl, how about you start working on the fire recipe. Make sure you follow it to a point - I don't want to be dealing with any explosions out here, or any other, uh…" at this, he shot a nervous glance at Astrid.

"... Unforeseen circumstances. Can you do that?"

Syl snorted. "Sure thing, _Chief."_

Ignoring her, Hiccup went on, "I'll start working on the ink - you said you brought the normal mix with you, right? If not, I have some I keep for my notebook just in case. Astrid, you can, um…"

She raised an eyebrow.

 **LOOK FOR A DARK PLACE TO READ IT?**

"Yes!" He said, snapping a finger. "And if you could ask Toothless to light a fire there… Gods, where has he gone off to, now? Well, he must still be in the cove somewhere, and I'm sure you know your way around by now…"

She nodded.

 **I'LL FIND HIM**

"Uh, yeah, thanks," he ended, his energy and fortitude from a moment before quickly fading as he picked up a mortar and pestle Syl had brought with them. Still, Astrid couldn't help but smile as she stalked off into the woods to find the Night Fury - it wasn't often that she got to see Hiccup like that, and she couldn't help but feel a swell of pride, as well as something else she didn't quite understand, when she did.

It took her longer than she'd expected to find the dragon. To be fair, he had spent just as much time as she had living down there, and more - but the cove was only so big. She had nearly turned back to enlist their help when she heard a low growl come from somewhere far to her right - and even with many of the deciduous trees having shed their leaves, it took Astrid another five minutes until he, quite literally, interrupted her thoughts.

" _What are you doing here?"_ She nearly jumped, but immediately started searching for him, listening, even smelling for him when neither of those worked. She could tell that he must've been close - his thoughts were usually stronger when he was, and they were clear as glass in her mind, now - but other than that, he could've been anywhere around her.

" _I came to find you, actually,"_ she said, trying to coax him into talking again.

She heard a snort from somewhere behind her. " _You shouldn't have."_

She turned around as fast as she dared, wincing as her tail hit the side of a tree. Still, she saw nothing, except…

On a hunch, she walked up to one of the larger trees in the forest. One of the major branches of the conifer had cracked and fallen off at some point, but the base was still leaning against the tree. It must have been fresh - the needles were still green, and created a covered lean-to against the tree, almost like a tent. The back end was enclosed completely, blocking the view from where she was standing, and must have created an almost cave-like space inside. Big enough for two or three people, perhaps, but she was willing to bet that it could also just fit a…

" _The real question is…"_ she stepped up to the opening. " _What are_ you _doing here?"_

 _Night Fury._

Sure enough, Toothless had somehow managed to fit his body inside, curling his tail around himself and tucking his wings tightly against his chest. Though she could see little more than his green eyes and snout in the darkness, it was obvious he was beyond cramped. She had seen Vikings with limbs torn off in combat that looked more comfortable than he did.

" _I, ah,"_ he grimaced. " _You need someplace dark for the book, right? I… found one."_

She tried to look past him, into the dark space, though his bulk took up most of it.

" _Maybe… if we were trying to burn the whole forest down. These limbs are dry as sand; they would catch in an instant. But you already know that, Toothless. I know you know that. And what the hell are you doing inside of it, anyway? I'll ask you one more time: what are you…"_

The thought faded as she further observed the space. The ground had a series of scratch marks on it, enough to indicate that some sort of struggle had taken place. But Toothless was the only one there…

" _Toothless…"_

He refused to meet her eyes. " _Go away."_

" _Toothless,"_ she continued. " _We know you have a… an illness, of some kind. Hiccup's trying to find something to cure-"_

" _I said,"_ he snarled, baring his teeth, eyes narrowing to slits, " _go AWAY!"_

He snapped out at her, and she just had time to pull back as his teeth slammed shut in front of her.

At that moment, any sane person might have taken his advice and left. But Astrid was a Viking - and just then, her inner sense of stubbornness chose to kick in, and she found herself rooted to the spot. " _No."_

He growled again, and she took a moment to analyze the situation. She had thought about fighting Toothless in the past, of course - she had thought about fighting everybody. As much as she hated the thought, she knew where his weak spots were, and if it came down to it, she would do what she needed to. That was, if she could even pull it off. As a human, she might've stood more of a chance - she could be fast, and nimble. Even with her newfound scaly hide, however, she was still a Night Fury, and Toothless had been one much longer than she had. He was more experienced in combat, and she had no doubt there were some weak spots he had discovered that _she_ didn't know about, either.

But whatever he planned on doing next, Astrid would never find out, as he suddenly collapsed back down onto the ground in pain, clutching at his head with his claws and only just suppressing a growl. His eyes snapped shut. Grimacing, she watched on in horrid curiosity. As painful as it was, she knew it was about time she saw one of these 'attacks' Hiccup kept going on about. She needed to know what was wrong with his best friend.

The seconds must have felt like hours to him, she knew - pain of the level he seemed to be experiencing always lasted forever. Still, it felt like an eternity had gone by for her before Astrid decided she needed to do something.

She wasn't going to risk stepping out in front of him - no, that was too dangerous, and she wasn't willing to put her life on the line. She could go back to get Hiccup - and she would soon if he didn't find them first - but she was afraid it would be over by the time she found him. To be fair, it didn't appear to be getting any better for Toothless - in fact, if the increase of high-pitched shrieks and scratching were any indication, it was getting worse. But that was just all the more reason to stay and watch over him.

Finally, she came to a decision; she was going to reach out to him. It had occurred to her before, but she had been too afraid it might make it even worse. Now, though, it seemed like her only real option.

" _Tooth-"_ though there was no visible reaction from him, she was nearly sent back reeling as her thoughts were met by a thrashing of angered torment. It was unlike any time she had spoken with him before - normally, it was one-way, one speaking directly to the other, and nothing more. Now, though, it was like a connection had opened up between them, nearly linking together their thoughts, her sheer will being the only thing keeping her from being sucked into the chaotic maelstrom. If this was what he had to go through every time…

She ripped her mind away, relieved to be back in the comfort of her own self when she thought she might lose it not a moment before. Too afraid to do anything else, she sat there and watched on as the attack grew worse and worse, as his claws nearly dug through the top of his head and scales, until it finally began to die down. A few minutes later and he had collapsed in complete exhaustion on the ground, panting and shaking as if he had just been through the fight of his life. As far as Astrid could tell, he had.

It brought back a haunting memory of a man she had once seen having what Hiccup called a 'seizure.' She was young at the time, and the old Viking had since died, but the memory was one she would never forget. The poor man had just been walking through town, when he suddenly fell to the ground, convulsing and writhing in pain. Fearful, she had run straight to her parents' house, nearly in tears. But what her mother told her was even more frightening.

"There's nothing we can do, child," she said.

"B-but… He's in pain…"

"Shhh," she whispered. "Believe me, we all wish we could help him… but the best we can do is make him comfortable in these last few years of his life."

 _The last years of his life._ Did that mean that Toothless was…?

No. She refused to believe it. This wasn't quite like that, anyway - although he was obviously in pain, he still seemed to be in control of most of his body. It was something in his head that was bothering him, though 'bothering' was still a massive understatement. Hiccup had already told her it couldn't be head mites of any kind, and now she saw why. It was a disease of the mind - though of what kind, she was unsure.

She waited on in silence as he slowly returned to the living world. She only risked another message when she thought the time was right.

" _Toothless?"_ she said. Though he didn't respond, he opened his eyes, and for the first time since she had found him, stared straight back into her own. While she was glad to see them again, there was only one emotion they held, and it worried her. Frightened her. It was undeniable - she had seen it time and time again.

Fear.

She waited a tick. Then another.

" _Is… Is it like that every time?"_

When he raised his neck and shook his head, it looked like the hardest thing in the world. " _No… It's… It's different. Each time is different, somehow."_

She nodded. _Worse, you mean,_ she thought, deciding against sending it to him. He had gone through enough already.

He kept staring at her. In any other situation, those eyes might have made her uncomfortable, wary. But just then, she would've done anything she could to help him.

" _You can't tell Hiccup."_

Except that.

" _Toothless, I,"_ she frowned. " _I have to. He's… he's my mate. Wouldn't you do the same for yours?"_

The Night Fury chuckled at the word 'mate,' as if it amused him. Not for the first time, she wondered how dragons viewed Viking relationships - and theirs was especially complicated, even by human standards.

" _Perhaps. But all the same, you cannot tell him,"_ he replied.

She narrowed her eyes. " _Are you_ forbidding _me from telling Hiccup?"_

He smiled again, though not a Toothless smile - something wistful, and bitter. " _I can't forbid you from doing anything, Astrid. Especially when I can't even understand your runes. I'm asking you to do this as... as a close friend. A friend that I trust."_

The thoughts she was about to send died out before she could. Something was wrong with Toothless - other than the seizures. His ever-present sureness and arrogance simply weren't there anymore. He was still a Night Fury, of course - but the look in his eyes betrayed his terror. Terror... that he was incapable, helpless… _Weak._

" _Astrid…"_ he went on, " _If he found out about this… He would never let me leave your nest again. We might never fly… And how could I be there for him? How would I know that he was alright, or protect him?"_

A thought came to her mind - one that she realized must have tormented him, angered him to no end. She thought against speaking it, but then decided it needed to be said, sooner or later.

" _You're putting him in just as much danger with the state you're in."_

He grimaced, unresponding. Then, " _I know."_

When it became clear that she wasn't going to respond, he began to pull himself out of the cover of the branch, groaning. She assumed it was because of the ache of his limbs, but she realized why a moment later.

His scales were scattered all across the ground, in more numbers than she had ever seen, midnight black and beautiful. The same couldn't be said for himself - if she looked closely, she could see scars running all along his head, arms and body, some fresh, others faded. And though she tried to tell herself it was just her new nose playing tricks on her, she knew better - the stench of blood was in the air.

And suddenly, she understood.

" _You can't hide this from him forever, Toothless,"_ she risked, after watching him attempt to stand on shaky legs. " _He will find out, eventually. Until then… your secret is safe. But you can't go on like this forever, and we need to know what's going on. We're… We're in the dark, here. But we will find a cure."_

He nodded in unspoken thanks, then shook, like a wolf emerging from cold water.

" _Why don't we find a dark place for the fire?"_ she asked.

" _Yeah,"_ he nodded again. " _Yeah, let's do that."_

Some of his pride and posture returned as they stalked off into the forest, she noticed. But the fear... it never left his eyes.

* * *

The endless silence dragged on for the two of them, as they each carried through with their respective jobs.

Normally, silence was tolerable for Hiccup. Comforting, even. After all, he had spent most of his childhood working along in the blacksmith - the crackling of the fires and _CLANG_ of hot steel had kept him company. He rarely found much need to talk with Toothless, either; their best moments had always been quiet, in the cove, or looking out over the ledges on Berk, him tucked against his side with a book, the dragon purring softly to himself. Any feelings were shared mutually, any words left unsaid - it was just how they worked.

But with people, it was different. In the years prior, if he found himself talking to someone, it was usually because they were angry with him. It made him naturally inclined to shy away from people, _especially_ his peers. Even Fishlegs was impossible to start a conversation with unless it was on something they mutually enjoyed. Once upon a time, people like him had been more than happy to talk to him, or more likely reprimand him. Ever since a certain Night Fury had started padding along as his partner, however, people tended to shy away. On top of that, his frugal attempts at small talk with Vikings almost always led to his involuntary sarcasm. And the few of those who understood it were still mad at him for it, anyway.

Syl was worse - though she didn't seem to mind the silence between them, it grew more awkward for him with every passing second. The questions left unanswered or unspoken, the truth she had been willing to admit to just last night still hanging in the air… It made him skittish. More skittish than he usually was, at least. Eventually, he couldn't take it anymore.

"So…" He started, hating the words as they left his mouth. "About last night. You, uh, said that…"

"I said some things," she finished for him.

There was a pause. "Were they true?"

She didn't respond.

"Because… I know a few people who also lost their families in the war. They-"

"Listen, Hiccup," a perfect replica of Astrid's tone, paired with something she had told him more times than he could count cut him off quickly. "You really want to talk about last night? Fine, let's talk. You're a dawdler."

"A… what?" he asked. "Where do you even get these-"

"A procrastinator. Sluggish. You keep putting it off, but you need to do it, sooner or later."

"What are you talking about?" He frowned.

"You love Astrid," she told him. "You need to tell her that."

His mouth fell open, and he struggled to find words to put in it. "W-why… why should I-"

"Because I know her type," she continued. "She admires strength, and strength alone. Maybe, just _maybe,_ she's trying to look at you in a different way. But at her core, that will always be her founding principle. Taming a Night Fury helps, I think - but she's not easily impressed. Not that I think you should be with her - and don't take that the wrong way, I have no interest in you, either - but if she's the one you're choosing… You've gotta commit."

He stared at her. "But I'm… I can't, and she's…"

"A dragon?" She asked. "That hasn't stopped you so far. Besides, don't you want to know, Hiccup? I know you - it's another question you don't have an answer for, and it's driving you crazy. You're a fool if you don't think people can see that. That _she_ can see that."

"She's not just a dragon…" He sighed. "She's _Astrid._ It wouldn't just be a rejection, it would be a punch in the face, or worse. She's kind of mastered insult to injury, if you hadn't noticed. Besides, we have a good friendship right now, and with everything that's going on… I don't want to give her even more to think about."

He nodded, as though trying to assure himself of his reasoning. They worked in silence for a moment. Then he frowned again. "You really think she knows?"

"Hiccup," she said. "Your feelings for her are clearer than the ocean is blue. _Everyone_ knows. She's just waiting for you to ask - girls like that sort of thing, though I doubt she'll ever admit to it. As much as I would tell you to avoid her at all costs, if you really love her, you should make a move soon. Preferably before you manage to change her back, and she's open to 'other options.' Like I said, I know her type."

Hiccup's frown deepened as she fell quiet, and they finished working in silence.

Astrid emerged from the forest just as he set the bowl down, looking quite anxious - or at least, more than she usually did.

"Astrid!" He nearly dropped the bowl, eager for an excuse to get out of the awkward situation he had just been in. That was, until he got a closer look at her.

There was something in her eyes - not fear, of course. Astrid rarely showed fear, if ever. But something more along the lines of… Concern. "Astrid? What is it?"

She stared up at him silently.

 **SOMETHING SEEMED WRONG WITH TOOTHLESS**

His heart sank. "Do... Do you think he had another attack? Did you see it?" He asked. Her eyes narrowed as if she was fighting some inner battle with herself, but they straightened a moment later.

 **NO**

 **HE SEEMED SHAKEN UP, THOUGH**

 **MAYBE HE DID**

 **MAYBE A BRANCH FELL ON HIM**

 **MAYBE HE SAW SOMETHING THAT SCARED HIM**

 **I DON'T KNOW**

"Oh… A branch...?" he swallowed. "I see. He's… he's okay, though?"

 **HE'S FINE**

 **WE FOUND A SPOT**

 **HE'S WAITING THERE FOR YOU**

"For the book?" He asked. "Well, at least that's some good news. Show me the way."

 _Secrets upon secrets,_ he thought as he followed her into the shade of the trees. _I guess everyone has them, now._

The spot was little more than an outcropping of rock off of the cliff, but it would suffice enough for darkness, and the smoke would still be able to crawl along the roof of the stone and out of the cove. Hiccup just hoped that nobody would notice smoke coming from the middle of the forest in Berk that night.

The sun had almost completely finished its descent by the time they arrived, so they didn't have to wait long. The sunset was probably beautiful from the Village, he knew - one of the last they'd have before the long storms of the winter rolled in. He only hoped he could find a solution to this whole mess before then, or else he might have to find somewhere else for Astrid to live…

 **YOU HAVE EVERYTHING?**

"I sure hope so," Hiccup replied. "If not… Well, we'll find out. Syl, you're sure you got the ingredients right?"

"As long as this recipe is right," she replied. "Which it is. Can you say the same for the ink?"

He sighed but nodded. "Well… Let's get started. Toothless?"

The dragon had been rather dormant since he had arrived, responding to his usual "Hey, bud," with little more than a deep, low purr. Other than that, Hiccup couldn't see much wrong with him, though he was holding his ears slightly lower to his head than he was used to. At least the dragon had been keeping himself busy - there was already a small pile of twigs within the shade of the outcropping, ready to be lit.

"D-does he have to do it?" Syl asked, suddenly reaching down to pick up a small pebble on the ground. "We could, uh, strike this with some flint and-"

She yelped as a tiny fireball lit the sticks, followed by another deep purr. "... Or, you could just do that."

"Thanks, bud," he said, ruffling his ears. "Now… Astrid, prepare to be amazed... Maybe. Syl, the fire mixture?"

The girl walked up and, apathetically, chucked it into the fire. This time, it flared up a bright green for a few seconds, before fading again. Astrid seemed mystified and wary, and he might have been pleased if he weren't so worried himself.

"That… wasn't quite like last time. I could've sworn it was blue, before... Syl, you're sure-"

"Yes, I'm sure," she cut him off. "She probably just put some dye in it to make it seem more evil-looking when she did it. Don't worry about it."

He sighed. "Well, let's hope you're right. The measurements are the same, at least. Let's just see if the ink-"

There was a short growl from behind him, and he looked back just as he was lifting up the ink bowl.

 **WAIT**

"What is it, Astrid?" He asked.

 **THIS IS CRAZY AND ALL**

 **I'LL ADMIT AS MUCH**

 **IN FACT, IT SEEMS A LITTLE TOO CRAZY**

 **DID YOU SAY GOTHI JUST GAVE THESE TO YOU?**

"Why do you care?" she asked. "This is to help you, isn't it? I'd expect a little more gratitude, then again, this is _you_ I'm talking to."

 **ANSWER THE QUESTION**

Syl snorted. "Can you believe her, Hiccup? Refuses to have any faith in me, even if it's for her own good."

"Actually," he replied slowly, "she does bring up a good point. Why didn't Gothi just give you the vials instead of the recipes? She's been making them just for these occasions. On top of that, she seemed pretty reluctant to let us look at the book ourselves…"

"What, you too, Hiccup?" She asked. He didn't reply, instead moving to stand beside Astrid. She grimaced. "Fine, fine. She didn't give them to me so much as I… borrowed them from her. But-"

"You stole them," Hiccup stated, incredulous. "You stole the recipes… from the Village Elder."

"Now, hang on," she said. "I left a note on her door-"

Astrid growled loud enough to make them all jump.

 **YOU TRAITOROUS CUR**

 **I SWEAR TO THE GODS**

 **IF WE DIDN'T NEED YOU HERE**

 **I WOULD**

"Oh, _shut up,"_ Syl said. "Every damn time it's the same with you, and I'm sick of it. All you have are empty threats."

Astrid let loose another growl, and lunged forward, ready to tackle her, but Syl was ready. She fell back into the trees again, out of the reach of the fire's light. Then she started running.

"Wait, Syl," Hiccup called after her. "Where are you going?!"

"To do something I should've done a long time ago!" And she was gone, Astrid disappearing after her a few moments later.

"I… I can't believe it," Hiccup said to no one in particular. "She… she stole these-"

That was when he realized that he was still holding the recipes, and dropped them like they were burning through his hands. Shaking his head, he picked them up before the wind could sweep them away.

Astrid stepped out from the forest a few moments later.

"You lost her?" It was more of a statement than a question. She looked away.

 **I COULD HAVE GOTTEN HER**

 **JUST GIVE ME A LITTLE WHILE LONGER**

 **SHE CAN'T HAVE GOTTEN FAR**

"Don't, Astrid," he told her. "It's night, and she's in the woods - it's her element. I would be surprised if Toothless could find her, and he can track _anybody_. She's probably already gone, by now."

She gave a half-hearted growl, and her shoulders seemed to slump.

 **DO YOU AT LEAST BELIEVE ME NOW?**

 **DO YOU SEE WHY**

 **WE CAN'T TRUST HER?**

"I…" he frowned. "She was just trying to help…"

She groaned.

 **STOP ADVOCATING FOR HER**

 **SHE'S A TRAITOR AND A THIEF**

 **IT'S ONLY A MATTER OF TIME**

 **BEFORE SHE TURNS HER BACK ON US**

"I don't believe that," he said. "She's here for a reason, besides having no other choice. She could've left by now, but she hasn't. I think… I think she wants to change."

 **SHE'S NOT DOING A VERY GOOD JOB OF IT**

"I know, I know," he admitted. "But I… I want to help her. To show her that she doesn't _need_ to change. She just… has to understand. That it doesn't always have to be that way - the way it was, or the way it still is on her island, I guess."

She huffed.

 **HICCUP**

 **SOME PEOPLE**

 **JUST AREN'T WILLING TO STOP LIVING**

 **IN THE PAST**

 **THE SOONER YOU STOP TRYING**

 **THE SOONER YOU CAN ACCEPT**

 **THAT SHE WON'T CHANGE**

He grimaced, deciding not to answer. His eyes fell to the two pieces of paper in his hand. "We should get these back to Gothi."

She walked over to look at them, the light of the fire making her scales flicker and shimmer. He spotted Toothless watching them out of the corner of his eye, concealed by the outlying dark.

 **FOR EVERYTHING THAT I HATE HER FOR**

 **THERE IS ONE THING SHE'S RIGHT ABOUT**

 **YOU SHOULD BE READING THAT BOOK**

"As much as I'd love to," he said, "I still haven't gotten back to her since I left her hut in a bit of a hurry. I'm sure she'll find out that I have the book, too - then she'll want it back. And with that note Syl left her - or said she left her - it's only a matter of time, and you know how bad it is to deal with an angry Village Elder."

 **FINE THEN**

 **WOULD YOU AT LEAST**

 **MAKE A COPY OF THE RECIPES?**

"I guess I could…" He sighed. "But even if I did… Astrid, I don't know if it's a good idea for me to be reading this. I never see my Dad that nervous - especially not over a _book._ If just the knowledge alone is that dangerous… Why should someone like me be trusted to read it? Besides, what if these recipes don't even work?"

 **THERE'S ONLY ONE WAY TO FIND OUT**

She looked down at his hand, and he followed her gaze. The bowl of ink was still grasped firmly in his palm. The light of the fire played shadows across it, making it appear as though it was rippling.

"I… I don't know," he said. "I still don't like this."

She stared at him.

 **HICCUP**

 **I'M NOT GOING TO SLEEP TONIGHT**

 **KNOWING THAT I GATHERED**

 **ALL OF THOSE INGREDIENTS**

 **FOR NOTHING**

 **AND ANYWAY**

 **SHE'S ALREADY TURNED ME INTO A DRAGON**

 **WITH THIS MAGIC**

 **WHAT'S THE WORST THAT COULD HAPPEN?**

He nodded. "You're right."

Before he could convince himself otherwise, he opened the book to a random page and poured the ink on. Each of them waited there for a moment. Toothless edged closer into the light. Then, the lines filled in as the ink fell into place, and the words reformed. Grinning, Hiccup flipped through the book - the same effect was happening all the way through, and he couldn't help but let loose a "Yeah!" Toothless, suddenly, burst fully into the light, purring happily and lying down behind the rider. Eyes still glued to the book, he sat back down against him, curling into his side as the two fell back into old habits. Astrid had to chuckle a bit.

Still grinning, Hiccup eventually tore his eyes away from the pages to look up at her.

"You were right, Astrid; I should have believed you. I'll get it back to Gothi tomorrow, but for now… Well, I hope you don't mind if I stay here for a little while," as his eyes trailed back down to the book, he added, "and don't worry about Syl, either. We _can_ trust her, and I'm sure she'll come around."

* * *

Mildew muttered to himself as he fumbled for the key to his home in his satchel.

Another day had passed, gone to waste like all the rest. In his eyes, as long as that boy and his bloody dragons were still on the island, it was impure, tainted and overrun by the creatures of nightmares.

With no light to see by, he used his hands to feel around the large ring of keys - though there were several for his barn, safe, and other things, they all had unique shapes - he had managed to get the blacksmith to make them for him, and had bribed him not to let the boy be any part of it. For all he knew, he could make copies of the things, and have access to whichever of his possessions his and the others' grubby little fingers wanted. Still, the man had refused his money, and Mildew had reluctantly taken Gobber's word for it, instead - it would be his special project. Perhaps he had lied, however - what with The Compendium being stolen, his home had obviously been accessible to more visitors than he would have liked. He would have to get them changed, high-quality as they were - it was the only way he could think of getting into the house, and no thief on Berk was sly enough to pick the lock. Not that there were many thieves on Berk, of course - none of them were smart enough to get away with it. None, except maybe, for him.

He gave little more than a mutter of "bleedin' hell" when his hand grasped the key. That night was particularly dark, as well as cold, and the warm light of the fire he would ignite once inside might almost be enough to make him forget about the past few dreadful days he had been having.

The key slid into the lock with a click, and he pushed… to find that it was already open.

"Hmph," he muttered, brows scrunching down together. "Could've sworn I closed it…"

Nonetheless, he stepped inside, swinging it shut behind him. The dim starlight from the air vent barely illuminated the floor in front of him, but more importantly, his wives.

"Hello, ladies," he said, smirking up at Sven's interpretations of his past, short relationships. "I'm home."

"Gods _,_ you are _so_ weird."

He nearly stumbled face first into his fire pit before he caught himself. A high-pitched whine crawled its way out of his mouth, quickly turning into a growl as he tried to right himself.

"Who's there?" He asked.

"That's not important," the voice replied.

"Hmm…" He croaked. "Indeed. I haven't heard your voice on Berk before… Wait! You're that girl, aren't you? The runaway."

She didn't respond.

"I'll take that as a yes," he decided.

"I suppose Bjarke must have told you about me, then. But not much, I would guess. Not enough to make you see what his 'truths' really are…"

Peering into the darkness, he tried to make out her face, but it was no use - his eyesight was already starting to falter at his age, and that was when he _did_ have light to see by. If only he did now…

"So, tell me. Are you here to kill me? Because that would be quite a waste, let me assure you," grimacing, his hand grasped along the wall, searching for an unlit torch he always kept in a sconce there. Far more youthful eyes or not, there was no way she would be able to see it in that dark - he had an advantage, there.

"Hmm… Tempting, given your connection with Bjarke. _Very_ tempting," she drawled, a certain venom in her voice. "It would send the proper message to him and the rest of the island. Would be easy enough, as well. From what I've heard, I doubt anyone on _this_ island would care."

"That so?" His right hand made contact with the torch, and he grabbed around in his other for a flint and tinder. _Gods, I was sure I had one with me… Where did the damn thing get off to?_

"Then be done with it, already! Breaking into my house like you did - _again,_ assuming you were the one who stole the book. You must have been, now that I think about it. But from what I hear, Stoick's got it back in his hands, now. So why plant it on the boy?"

He heard her suck in her breath. Something about what he had just said had confused her - or scared her. Either way, it was a bit more leverage that he wasn't about to throw away.

"My intentions are my own," she eventually responded. "And I intend for them to stay that way, unless I choose otherwise. As to how I got into your house? Well, you've got terrible locks. Easy to pick as a chicken bone. Don't worry, though - my intentions are peaceful. Peaceful within these walls, at least. So where to start? Well, my name is Syl..."

There was an audible _CLICK,_ and he stumbled back as the firepit burst to life, flames illuminating every corner of the room. The girl stepped into the light, and he caught a few features - black hair, a deep green tunic - but most prominent were her eyes, green, crystal-clear and devious.

"... And I'd like to make a deal."


	22. The Departure

**Good day to you all!**

 **Glad you could make it. I, obviously, suck at schedules. I just keep getting worse, and I really can't stress enough to you how sorry I am for it. I've honestly lost track of how many weeks it's been.**

 **With that said, I may - MAY - be updating Chapters 2 & 4, and any others that had Author's Notes that got cut off for some reason, or horrible errors of a similar extent in the chapters themselves. It just looks really stupid, and it's kind of sad that I haven't picked up on them 'till now. So to all of my followers, if you get any new emails in the next few weeks concerning this story… that's probably all it is. **

**Ugh, didn't I make a promise that I wouldn't make any more lengthy Author's Notes? Sorry, everyone. I'm doing my best, really! Nonetheless, please be sure to follow for updates and review!**

 **I don't own How to Train Your Dragon.**

* * *

' _Twas the young Prince's last-spoken word in_ _his partings of spirit, ere he mounted the fire, the battle-tides burning, teasing upon his skin…_

 _Teasing his skin…_

" _Prince… Teasing… Teasing... his skin… Mounted the-"_

There was a low growl, and he shuddered. Had the dragon returned? It couldn't be — it was dead, vanquished… It was—

There was another growl, louder this time, and Hiccup's eyes snapped open. Two iridescent greens stared back into them, each framed by black scales.

"D-dragon!" He yelped, jumping up, his terror only increased when he realized it was pitch black, and he couldn't see anything. There came another low purr, and he became even more confused.

"Toothless?" He narrowed his eyes, peering back into the curious reptile's own. "Toothless, I- oh, bud, I'm so sorry! I didn't think you were… I was having a dream that, about the…" He sighed, and took the dragon's head in his hands. "I'll never be afraid of you."

The Night Fury's eyes almost seemed to widen at this, as though he had just stumbled upon some secret. Hiccup might have taken note of this, had he not been nudged roughly in the back a second later.

 **HICCUP**

He could barely read the runes in the dark, but as his eyes adjusted, he was able to recognize his own name. Looking up, the outline of Astrid's body became visible, as well. It was the darkest time of the night - the moon had fallen beyond the horizon, and the sun was beginning to rise over the other side, making the stars vanish, too. Something in the back of his mind told him this was important, but he chose to ignore it, his distant mind still trying to make sense of the situation.

"Astrid, what…? Did you wake me up? Did I fall asleep here? Why is it so dark out?"

 **HICCUP**

 **YOU FELL ASLEEP GOING ON**

 **ABOUT THAT POEM**

 **AND WHILE I'M SURE IT'S VERY IMPORTANT**

 **BUT YOU NEED TO**

"The Saga! It's still getting to me, even in my dreams, apparently," he said before she could finish.

The book was, indeed, everything he had hoped it would be; a mere glance through a few pages held tales and legends of far-away lands, strange artifacts and ancient peoples, and dozens of other things he knew he would be spending every second of his free time reading about in the next few days - or weeks. Still, they had that book for a reason, and so he had reluctantly flipped through until he first saw the word _dragon_ pop up several times in a section. They didn't know how long they had it for, after all—

 **HICCUP**

He frowned at her insistence. "It just doesn't make any sense. _The Steel and the Flame,_ I know the poem - it's been awhile since I read it, but I'm positive something's wrong with it. In the story, a warrior, full of valor and bravery and all, goes off to fight this dragon that's been terrorizing his Village for a long time. He manages to kill it, but almost dies, as well… But the way this makes it sound, he _did_ die… or something. And, if anything, he would have been a King - not a Prince. Still, just about everything else is the same, and this seems to be the only section they left in here, whoever copied it."

 **HICCUP**

"And that line! _Mounting the fire… Teasing upon his skin…_ The scales over your skin were the first part, weren't they? And that other part, _mounting the fire -_ maybe it means in a more metaphorical sense?" He shook his head. "I don't know, Astrid. I just don't know. Hell, I barely got to glance through it last night. It could just as well be nothing, maybe an error of some kind. That tends to happen when stories are copied over too many times-"

She growled at him, loud enough that Toothless opened a half-lidded eye to look at her from where he had been trying to fall back asleep.

 **HICCUP**

 **I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT I'M THE ONE**

 **TELLING YOU TO DO THIS**

 **BUT YOU NEED TO LEAVE**

 **NOW**

"Leave? Why would I need to-" his eyes widened as he noticed the light peeking over the lip of the cove. "Oh, gods, the — the diplomacy mission! My dad is gonna kill me if I'm late for that—"

Clutching the book in his hands, he started up, running toward Toothless, who gave a curious, if tired, purr, before stopping. Next came the sound of his palm and forehead colliding, with a groan to top it off.

"I-I was supposed to get this back to Gothi! Ah, Hiccup, all these responsibilities and you stayed up all night reading a book! Though it's not like it's the first time, I guess… Not exactly typical Viking behavior, either. Gods, I already sound like Dad, too…"

He winced as his eyes moved up to Astrid, and she gave a low purr, the only calm sound she could seem to make in this gods-forsaken body. The poor boy looked about ready to collapse at any second. Toothless took note of this, and quickly moved behind him for support.

"Astrid, I… I'm… I'm really sorry. I really, really should have asked you about this sooner. Should have told you about it sooner. I won't be able to do anything to help you while I'm away... and now we don't even have time to talk about how… how I'm gonna be gone for…"

He sighed again, as did she. She should've been mad at him just then, and a part of her wanted to be — but she couldn't bring herself to. She could never stay mad at Hiccup for long, anyway. Besides, her angry scribbling was really not what he needed just then; it would have to wait.

 **YOU'RE RIGHT, HICCUP**

 **BUT I'M NOT IMPORTANT RIGHT NOW**

 **WHAT'S IMPORTANT IS THAT YOU HAVE THE BOOK**

 **AND THE ONLY REASON YOU STILL HAVE IT**

 **IS BECAUSE YOUR FATHER IS LETTING YOU KEEP IT**

 **SO YOU HAVE TO DO WHAT HE SAYS**

His brows furrowed. "But Syl's decoy-"

 **WOULDN'T HAVE WORKED FOR MUCH LONGER**

 **IT WAS A CLEVER TRICK, I'LL ADMIT**

 **BUT SOONER OR LATER, YOUR FATHER WOULD**

 **HAVE FIGURED IT OUT**

 **OTHERWISE, HE WOULD HAVE SEEN YOU**

 **FLYING UP TO GOTHI'S EACH DAY**

 **AND GOTTEN SUSPICIOUS**

 **THOUGH I'M SURE THAT HE ALREADY IS**

 **GO, HICCUP**

 **IF YOU REALLY FEEL THE NEED TO DO SOMETHING**

 **ASK AROUND ON YOUR TRIPS**

 **SEE IF ANYONE KNOWS ABOUT THE BOOK**

 **OR ANYTHING ABOUT WHAT'S HAPPENED TO ME**

 **OR WHAT'S HAPPENING TO TOOTHLESS**

"Yeah… okay…" he said when she had finally finished, almost at a whisper. Still, she could see his mind begin to work it out, clicking and turning like one of his inventions. "I guess I could… I could make that work. I'll have to play it off… The first trip is to the Stone Spears in the West, and who knows where the others will be... Not only that, but I'll have to ask Gothi if I can keep The Compendium during nights… Maybe I can come here then, and we can read it… We won't have the resources for the mixtures for much longer this late in the season, but I can stockpile what I can find, and maybe, if you could look for some, too…"

She let out a _coo,_ formally ending his personal mumbling.

 **IT'S OK HICCUP**

 **I KNOW THAT YOU WILL FIGURE IT OUT**

 **THAT** **WE** **WILL FIGURE IT OUT**

 **FOR NOW, THOUGH**

 **YOU HAVE TO GO**

"I have to…" He frowned, glancing over to where Toothless was already shifting uncomfortably in the saddle he had forgotten take off of him the night before.

"We…" He stood up, determined. "We will talk about this, Astrid. I promise. I… I have a lot to make up for. I won't let you down, and… and I'll do whatever I can. I..."

 _I wish I didn't have to leave you this way._ His stupid brain caught the words just before his heart forced them out of his throat, and they stuck there. For a moment, he was worried he might manage to choke on them, before he swallowed hard and moved to Toothless.

Astrid stared at the dragon as Hiccup began to readjust his saddle, slipping the book into a knapsack he had sewn onto it. " _The Stone Spears… That's a long way off, two hours flight, maybe three, at least. That's not taking it easy, either. Toothless… Are, are you sure—?"_

His eyes flashed, though he managed to resist making any movement otherwise. " _I have to do it. For Hiccup, and his father, and the nest… And for you."_

" _And for yourself,"_ she added. " _Remember, the quicker you can get these done, the more time he can put into looking for a… A cure, for you. With that said… Be sure you're still alive by the time he finds it. All this flying you'll be doing isn't even good for a healthy dragon, never mind a, uh…"_ she trailed off, but he nodded.

" _Don't worry about me, Astrid. In the meantime… Train. And remember what I said about your leaving here again."_

She frowned. " _I'll give it some thought... fly safe, Toothless."_

He managed a toothless grin. " _And you as well, Astrid."_

The boy was perched on his back, ready to fly as they finished speaking. He raised an eyebrow at the two of them — it must have been beyond obvious that they were talking — but didn't go any further. As the dragon spread his wings, Hiccup called down to her, "I'll have Stormfly bring you something to eat before I leave. It's not exactly like dragons carrying baskets of fish off into the woods is anything new around here anyway, is it?"

She listened for the audible _click,_ as he shifted the lever to the tailfin. Then, eager to take off, the dragon's wings snapped up, and they were away. She watched them as far as she could, that time. It might have been the last time she would see them for at least a day, if not a few. Normally, that would have been fine - she could live without Hiccup, after all. But travelling as far away as he was, and with Toothless's own doubts about their safety under his protection...

She frowned, ripping her eyes away from the skies.

 _What's wrong with me?_

* * *

"Oh, Hiccup! Good, I was startin' to wonder where you were. Ye' must've gotten back late last night, eh? Anyway, Gobber's still lookin' for the third page of the fealty documents. Ye've probably got a few minutes, at least."

Hiccup stared at his father for a few seconds, his mouth opening a few times, only for labored gasps to come out, the result of trying to run down the gangplanks to the docks on two uneven feet.

"I… Wh…" He was eventually able to wheeze out. "Papers…? You mean… You…"

Stoick frowned, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Ye' don't need to leave yet, son. I'd suggest you go say gidbye to Astrid - someone saw her stumblin' back to her house last night, a little while after the sun went down. Don't know what you two were doin, but she looked pretty tired, from what I've heard. Anyway, good spirit, son! I'm glad to see you showing so much enthusiasm for this!"

Stoick stared at him for a moment longer. Once it was clear he wasn't going to say anything else, he sauntered away down the dock, off to help some other men trying to tie together a broken mast with a rope.

Hiccup took a deep breath, before doubling over onto his knees, coughing. He had barely had time to fly up the mountain to Gothi's, entering and leaving to drop it off with little more than a, "Hi-Gothi-here's-the-book-I'm-sorry-I-couldn't-get-it-to-you-sooner-bye!" From there, he had pushed the dragon down into the village at a full-on nosedive, eliciting an unnecessary screech from Toothless and making several duck their heads in fear as they came to land near the edge of the town.

Still, the dragon managed a smile as he met him at the top of the docks again, and Hiccup had to respond with his own as he ruffled his ears. "Come on, bud. Let's find out what 'Astrid' was up to last night. Though I'm not sure I _want_ to know, to be honest."

* * *

There didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary, really. Stormfly was resting in the shed next to the house, sound asleep. The rising sun revealed that no extreme damage had been done to her house - nor the rest of the village, for that matter. Lastly, he couldn't hear any yelling or screaming, even when he drew within the fifty-foot radius of the building. It was more than he could usually say when he went over to Astrid's house.

Still, his gut twisted as he lifted his fist up to the door. With the way she had stormed off last night, what she had done, and what she had said…

Clenching his teeth, he moved away from the door, walking over to Stormfly's shed. He had a feeling he wouldn't want to deal with whatever angry temperament he was met with in there, and besides… He had promised Astrid he would do this, anyway.

"Hey, girl," he said as he approached the dreary Nadder. He rested a hand on her snout as she slowly woke up, and she let out a chortle. "I need you to do me a favor…"

With that, he gave the dragon specific instructions on bringing half of her morning fish basket out to Astrid in the woods, with extra emphasis on _not_ eating it before she got there. Stormfly was a smart dragon, though, and she seemed to understand, and he watched her as she took off a few minutes after he stepped away, a particular someone's breakfast dangling in her claws. A few people already awake in the village started at the sight, but most simply ignored it — a dragon flying off into the woods with a basket of fish wasn't exactly the strangest thing most of them had seen in the past few months, anyway.

Toothless gave a low purr from behind him as he watched her fly away, and he sighed. "Fine, fine," he said, walking back over to the front step. "Guess I couldn't avoid it forever…"

"Uh, Astrid?" He said, rapping on the weather-beaten wood. "I, uh… just wanted to know how you were… Astrid?"

His hand went up to the door again, before he froze. Her parents. He had forgotten about her parents! It was only just past dawn — she was probably fast asleep, one way or another, and they usually didn't get up 'till later. And here he was, knocking on their door at dawn!  
A bit embarrassed, he glanced around to see if anyone was staring at him. Luckily, not many people seemed to be out yet, and in truth, it wouldn't be the first time he had been up knocking on her door that early in the morning.

"I'm an idiot," he said, shoulders slumping as he turned away from the door. "Come on, bud. It's not like she wants to talk to us, anyway. We should just…"

But yet again, he found himself frozen in his tracks.

He should have left. He _really_ should have. Syl hadn't caused any catastrophic damage to Berk, it seemed — and if people were saying they had seen her walking home late, she must not have run away...

But… just out of a mere curiosity… he pushed on the door.

It opened.

He sucked in his breath. Really, that should've been his second warning. A chill went down his spine, at least — but then, his concern and worried curiosity took over, and he found himself moving through the doorway into the dark house.

"Oh, bud," he whispered to the dragon, who was already poking his head through the door, "What are we getting ourselves into?"

* * *

"Where did you get this?" Her brother asked, holding a small loaf of brown bread in his hands. Syl didn't respond, nor did she meet his eyes.

"Syl…" she winced as his voice became stern. She hated when he was like this. She was just trying to help… And she was hungry...

"Syl," he repeated, his voice softening a bit. He bent down on his knees, until he met her eyes with his. "I'm not going to be mad, okay? I just want to know where you got it."

"I…" She tried to hold back a sniffle, but failed, and let the tears run down her face instead as she sobbed. She was crying — crying in front of her brother. He was strong for her every day; why couldn't she be strong for him, too? What was wrong with her?

He gave a gentle sigh, and waited until she was able to form a sentence, or at least tried to.

"I didn't… I was hungry, and I… we haven't had anything to eat for days… It was just sitting on someone's table in the village… I could see it through the door, and... Daddy hasn't come back home yet… Where is he?"

"Dad is…" He frowned as she descended back into quiet sobs, and looked at the bread in his hand. When she finally looked back up again, her nose feeling sore, he was smiling. It wasn't a real smile — she rarely saw those anymore, on anyone at all — but it was enough, and so she smiled back.

"Our little secret," he said, pushing the bread back into her hands. "Tomorrow we can make a jam out of some of the berries we pick in the woods, if you'd like. Just remember - I'm not saying this is okay."

"But… But what if we run out again? I can't sleep at night, and with all that sword-fighting you're doing… You must be hungry…?"

"I…" he grimaced. "I can find us some food, ok? I'll take a few lessons off from dragon training to go hunting for us, alright? There has to be some good meat left on this gods-forsaken rock…" he ended with a mutter, before seeming to remember who he was talking to.

"Just…" He cleared his throat, trying to seem authoritative. "Just don't steal, Syl. I don't care who you see doing it, who tells you it's okay. Don't do it, _please."_

She sucked in a shaky breath, and nodded.

"Good," he said, standing back up. "Get that bread wrapped up. Make sure it's well hidden, too - put it in a cabinet, or something. _Our_ secret. Understand?"

He managed one last smile down at her before he ran back into the town, hand resting on the hilt of a sword strapped awkwardly to his waist.

She looked down at the loaf of bread in her hands, and hugged it tight to her chest.

"Wait," she squeaked, her eyes closed. "Big broth-"

But when she opened her eyes, he was gone. In fact, everything was gone - the village, her brother, the bread…

She squinted. Wherever she was, it was foggy. She could barely see a few feet around her. But there was one thing she could make out.

Water.

She was standing in it. It stretched off in every direction she could see, only an inch high, maybe less. Not much more than a large puddle, really.

Until it started rising.

Up around her feet, shrouding them up to her ankles. She stepped back, nervously. The water kept rising. She took another step and another. Faster and faster.

The water kept rising. She wanted her brother. She was running now, searching for solace the endless lake. But the weight of the water tugged at her feet, and she fell.

She was panicking, struggling to get to her feet as the water surged around her, rising higher and higher, touching the base of her neck. Her hands searched along the ground for a way to push herself up, but it was slippery, and every attempt just made her fall back in.

 _No,_ she thought, _no no NO, NO, NO! I DON'T WANT TO DIE! I CAN'T S-_

She shot up in bed, reeling and clutching her pillow. Terror swept over her as she realized that she still felt wet... but wasn't drowning. No, her face was wet from tears. That was normal enough. But just towards the base of her legs, as well... More specifically…

As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could just make out two green orbs staring out at her from the edge of her bed, each as wide and full as the moon. Hers widened in kind, and she pushed the pillow up to her face to muffle a scream.

The damned dragon was _licking her feet._

"Toothless, what did-" came a voice. "How did you even manage to get in… Oh… Syl? Uh… did Toothless, ah… Sorry about that. He does that when he wants to, you know, wake people up, sometimes. It's, uh, pretty effective, as you can see..."

"Hiccup," she said, calmly at first. "What are you and _that dragon_ doing in _my_ _room?!"_

"Oh, well, we just came to wish you well before we're off, and… Wait a second-"  
"Wish me well?!" She asked, straining her eyes to make out his outline, if only so she could jump up and strangle him. "You snuck into my room! With a _Night Fury!"_

"No, Syl, what happened to your—? Hang on a moment," The room went silent for a moment, then there were footsteps followed by a rattling sound, and she realized he must've been grasping about for the shutters at the back - it was the only real window in the room.

She took the time to gather her wits about her, only to find that that was incredibly difficult. A dull ache in her head made her want to grind her teeth, and her tongue felt dry as sand. She tried to figure out why, though her memory of the night before was still a bit fuzzy. What exactly…

The shutters flew open, and light streamed into the room - right onto her face. She groaned, raising a hand up to block the sun from her face, nearly falling out of bed in trying to get away from it. A cold morning air blew through into the house, and she shivered. The dragon, who had somehow managed to fit himself in her room, purred at her. She shivered again.

"Syl, you're…" Hiccup looked down at her, in horror. "You're wearing your clothes,"

"Yeah, what did you expect, pervert? Waking me up here at, what, dawn? Gah, something's wrong with my head…"

"N-no," he stammered, blushing. "You're… You're wearing _your clothes._ And your hair, and your voice… What…?"

Confused, she stared down at herself for a moment, her mind still trying to push past whatever wall had been thrown in front of it…

 _Ah,_ she realized, looking down at her own tunic and darker clothing. _That would do it._

The night before came back to her all at once - her argument with Hiccup and Astrid, making a strategic withdrawal, getting her old voice back with some mead from the hall… That would explain the headache, at least. And, of course, her meeting with the town's resident crazy old man…

She was competent enough at least not to give anything about their 'deal' away to Hiccup. Still, she would need an excuse for all of this, and her mind wasn't quite sharp enough to come up with anything good just yet. But Hiccup didn't look like he was about to leave, either…

"I uh," she glanced around as her eyes half-adjusted to the light, only slightly on fire, now. "I just wanted to… be me, again…" Her groggy mind suddenly produced.

"Be… yourself?" He asked, sounding about as confused as she was.

"Y-yeah," she decided. "Wanted to, uh, get away from this whole 'Astrid,' thing. I know you like her and all, but, we all need breaks, y'know?"

He sighed. "So… That's what you were talking about? With the whole, 'something you should have done a long time ago,' bit?"

"Yeah, sure… downed a couple bottles of mead I borrowed. Just hung out here for a little while, put on my old clothes… It was nice. I almost snuck out to the woods, actually. So much easier to move around in these… Astrid's clothes are just so _tight…"_

"Wait… Just these two?" He frowned, looking down at the empty bottles in his hand. "Man… For a Viking, you really can't hold your liquor."

Her eyes narrowed, and she made an effort to get out of the bed, but as she opened her mouth to make another comeback, she slumped over, nearly falling to the ground before Hiccup caught her at the last moment, giving out a slight yelp as he nearly collapsed under her weight.

She looked up at him with a weak smile as she lay back in his arms. "Is this what you wish you could do with Astrid?" It wasn't exactly clever, but she needed to say _something_.

He blushed and carried her back over to the bed as she groaned again, grabbing her forehead.

"Well, I'm glad you got some time off, I guess… But I need to know you can keep this up while I'm, uh, _away…"_ he grimaced.

"Don't worry about it," she waved a hand. "I've got it covered. Now let me get back to sleep."

"Are, you sure about that? You, uh, you didn't sound that great when you _were_ asleep. Are you having nightm-"

"No!" she yelled. "It was your damned reptile licking the fuzz off my feet. Though to be honest, it's not the worst way I've woken up lately…"

His frown deepened, and he continued, "We're still not leaving, Syl. What if someone walked in here and saw you?"

"You mean like you did, just now?" She asked. "But... if you insist, wait outside the door. There's a basin of water around here somewhere… I can dye my hair in that. It'll take a minute, so don't get impatient with me — you can't rush perfection. And get the Night Fury out of here, too. It's bad enough having to deal with him _outside_ of the house..."

"Where's the potion?" he said, glancing around the room. She pointed to a cabinet just under the window, and he went to pick it up. The liquid still gleamed in its vial when he picked it up, but when he offered it back to her, she shook her head.

"No, no," she groaned again, her hand massaging her temples. "I want to be _me_ for as long as I can, thanks. I'll take it after I change. Now _go."_

With one last grimace at her, he made himself scarce after Toothless, once again, squeezed himself through the doorway to her room. The door swung shut behind him, and he heard the _click_ of a latch sliding into place. He had installed it for her — for _Astrid —_ just a few months ago.

"Ugh, I hope the gods find this amusing," he said. "Not only did she get herself drunk and nearly caught, but now my Dad's probably waiting for me! Can you believe this, Toothless?"

But the dragon was preoccupied — this time, with the stairs. He had practically lept over all of them in getting up to the second floor, but now, as he stared down the steps, his feet danced worriedly before the first ledge. They didn't have steps at their house, Hiccup remembered. There was only a ladder, and even so, he would usually jump the height to the second floor, or more likely jump up to the roof, and walk in through the large door he had installed to his room just for that. Here, though, there was barely enough space for him to fit outside of her room, and the stairs — which were barely wide enough for a Viking, never mind a dragon - turned just before the bottom.

"Uh, bud?" He swallowed hard. "I'm not sure that's such a good-"

But the dragon had already put a foot down on the step, and another. Then all of a sudden, he was flying down the steps, letting out a tiny shriek as he collided with the wall, leaving a Night Fury-shaped head mark on the wall.

He winced as the vibration reverberated across the house for a second, a trembling a bit beneath his feet. Then, shaking his head first a bit, Toothless slipped out the front door, the wind that followed in his wake slamming it shut.

"The Night Fury," he whispered to himself, leaning back against a wall. "The stealthiest, most elusive dragon known to mankind..."

And then, of course, it got worse.

There came the sound of shifting from somewhere below him, followed by a series of mumbles and grunts. He froze.

Somebody had just woken up. His mind kicked into action, assessing the situation. Whoever it was, they were parents, and so their immediate reaction would ultimately be to ask Astrid what had happened if anything was wrong. It was inevitable. Syl was changing, and didn't have her voice — _Astrid'_ s voice — meaning that she couldn't call down to reassure them when the question came. And if they couldn't hear her, they would go up to her room. He was there, and then, of course, her hair was dark, and she wasn't wearing her clothes…

Oh, gods. Oh, _gods._ From their eyes, Hiccup had snuck into their house at dawn, standing outside Astrid's door, while she was supposedly still getting _dressed…_

Things were not looking up.

As he heard the floorboards creaking somewhere below him, he wished the real Astrid was there to explain everything. If anyone could convince their own parents that an earth-shaking tremor was nothing at all, it would be her…

His eyes searched the room desperately, looking for something to help him — there was _always_ something—

… And came to rest on the potion in his hand.

* * *

Hiccup's poem was already beginning to worry Astrid almost as much as it did him. Granted, her schedule wasn't _quite_ as hectic as she guessed his must have been — not anymore, anyway — and she thus had more time to consider it, but it wasn't like her. Then again, there was a solid chance this was the thing that could solve all of their problems...

She could understand his worry over it. The lines, _teasing upon his skin…_ it did sound suspiciously like what had happened to her. Still, it was only a few lines in the huge book — 10 pages later was probably the guide on "What to do if you find Yourself Accidentally Turned into a Night Fury," with their luck thus far.

She groaned as the thoughts buzzed around her head like flies, though she was getting more and more used to it. It had become a part of her daily routine - get up, drink, eat whatever was leftover from dinner the night before — if there even _was_ anything left, in which case she closed her eyes and tried to pretend it was ham while swallowing — then _think._ Sometimes for a few minutes, sometimes for hours. In many cases, the sun had crossed the sky before she knew it, and Hiccup and Toothless were flying over the crest of the hill, the passage of time almost unnoticeable. She often wondered if that was what Hiccup was like before he, well, had a life. Maybe this was what it was like to be _peaceful._

Regardless, it seemed more likely to make her fat and lazy than anything, and so she avoided it whenever possible. She was already starting to tell herself her stomach was sagging a little, though with all her newfound weight it was impossible to tell.

There was one thing, however, that set this day apart from others; something she had done fairly regularly while human, but had since neglected following her transformation. In truth, she was unsure she knew whether or not dragons even _did_ that sort of thing, though from the way Toothless made it sound, their process was… Slightly different.

Astrid was in desperate need of a bath.

It had taken her a few days to realize it - not only because it seemed like such a _strange_ thing to do, but because she had begun to believe that her nose was playing tricks on her. Sure, she had noticed that there was a distinct… odor, that seemed to be present no matter where she went, but a part of it was fish, and so she didn't really mind, and as she had picked up on so many strange scents in the days following her transformation, she had just dismissed it.

When it finally occurred to her that the smell just might, _might_ be coming from her, she had dismissed it again — after all, Hiccup would have told her, wouldn't he? Then, she had thought back to all the times he had walked home with her after full-day training sessions, her blue tunic absolutely drenched, hair matted against her forehead, _reeking,_ but proud of it… His face had wrinkled up more than a little, but he never said a word about it, and stayed as close to her side as he always had.

So eventually, she admitted to herself that a nice swim in the lake would be good for her. Not only would it hopefully rid herself of some of the stenches, but she found it… Refreshing. _Relaxing_ wasn't a word she liked to use — relaxation meant vulnerability, after all — but at the very least, a nice dip in the hot springs always took the ache and tension out of her muscles, and she felt revitalized and ready to punch someone as soon as she stepped out.

But as she sat there, dipping her foot into the water, she hesitated before jumping in. Because in reality… She wasn't _entirely_ sure how to swim.

As a Viking, of course she could — it was one of the first things she was taught to do, before she even began her combat training, which said a _lot._ She had participated in several competitions, in fact - and won them. In fact, one year, at Thawfest, some Vikings on the council suggested that they all try something different, and so they arranged a swimming competition between the island and statues built out in the ocean. Though the idea was met with mostly positive feedback, it was called _Thawfest_ for a reason… Needless to say, it wasn't the most satisfying victory, but Astrid vowed to that day that it was all worth it to see Snotlout's confused, shivering face when they dragged themselves up on to the beach, trying to figure out how she had beaten him — even if it meant she was stuck in bed for two weeks with a cold afterward.

But here at the lake, as a _dragon…_ She had no idea where to start. The basic movements were the same — she still had _legs,_ of course - but when it came to her wings, or tail, or head? She knew they must have been important somehow, and she had seen Toothless use them when he swam… But she had no clue how. She had barely learned to move them a few days before. They would need coordination, systematic movement... Perhaps this was out of her skill level…

 _No, no,_ she reminded herself. _I'm Astrid Hofferson._ Nothing _is out of my skill level. When I started training, I knew nothing about combat, either. This is just the same._

And yet, she still found herself unwilling to step in. It was that nasty thing, she realized, that kept coming back like a bug in late spring; fear.

 _It's probably not that bad…_ She reasoned, _It's not like it's very deep, anyway, and as long as I don't let them get in the way, or splash around too much, it should be fine. I'll just… Float. Dragons can float... Right?_

She tried to think back to when she had asked Hiccup that question, only to realize she never had.

 _Great. I suppose I'll have to answer that myself, then._

She moved her feet down into the water. The waves rippled around her, cool, but she couldn't really feel it; she was never cold, not anymore.

Trying not to think about how sad it would be if she died from drowning in the four-foot deep shallow end of a pond, she took a deep breath, then pushed herself down into the water, feeling it spread across her scales as she did. She waded out into the water, until her paws could only just touch the bottom. The immersion was strange, but pleasant — the feeling of it running over her folded wings and tail drew out a happy little purr. And luckily, she found, if she stayed absolutely still, she didn't seem to sink at all.

 _Good,_ she thought. _This… is nice.  
_ It was _really_ nice. So nice that the time began to escape her, as she found that by keeping her snout just resting on top of the surface, her nose was placed in such a way that she could breathe while keeping the lower half of her head submerged.

But more than that… Floating just felt so _right._ So _natural._ Letting her feet off the ground, becoming weightless, gave her a rush of excitement, and exhilaration, as she felt herself sway with the occasional breeze that pushed her around the pond. The movement was just as much fun… Almost like…

 _Flying._

Gods, Toothless was right. Her wings _did_ ache. They ached for _use._ She unfurled them day after day, just to stretch them; she had long since found they were unbearable to deal with otherwise, and she of all people knew how bad it was to let muscles and limbs go unused and unexercised. It was one of the few arguments she made for herself to do it, if all "it" was, was stretching them out every now and then. She didn't really know any good exercises for wings, except for, of course…

 _Flying._

There it was again — that need for release, for a purpose. She almost _wished_ they had a mind of their own, as it wasn't the wings that wanted for meaning, for purpose — it was her. _She_ wanted the freedom, the escape. No, she _needed_ it. Her mind told her there was nothing better in the world, and her heart screamed to be up there, flying with Stormfly again. Only, with her own wings, she could do so much more...

But… it wasn't enough to make her try. Her body, her tail — everything else had been necessary to move around, and although she had learned to _move_ the two giant extensions, _that was it._ She didn't _need_ to fly — though the feeling of elation she got from not feeling her feet even brush the ground seemed to contest that.

The time really _did_ slip away as she sat there, floating around the shallow end of the pool. Anytime she began to float too far from the shore she simply kicked her legs a bit until her toes skimmed the muddy sand on the bottom.

Then, at one point or another, she heard it — the sound of a gentle _swish_ somewhere in front of her in the water. Her eyes snapped open, and she turned her head up to search the water's surface, but there was nothing. Experimentally, she ducked her head underwater and opened her eyes. It was much more comfortable than she had expected — dragons must have had some sort of film over there eyes, she realized, as they felt almost dry, and the water was crystal clear. Alas, it was only a fish — a pike at that.

A _fish…_

Of course, Astrid couldn't fly. She wouldn't. But… This was just too tempting. Sure, she could wait for food to come, and she wasn't about to starve, either… But she didn't want to grow lazy, now, did she? _Real_ Vikings hunted, and fished, lived for their own lives, and got their own food. Surely the same applied to dragons...? If she could just _prove_ to herself that she was capable of catching one… It was all she would need.

Besides, she was feeling a bit hungry, anyway.

Her eyes locked onto the fish as she ducked her head back down under. She had been stagnant, she realized — so still that the fish must have mistaken her for a floating log or a rock. Gods in Asgard, was it in for a surprise. But she would have to be quick. The fish was close for the moment, and fat, but it could still swim much faster than her, if she could even swim at all — she still hadn't _really_ tried.

As she resurfaced, she tried to look where she remembered the fish was. But the water distorted it, and the occasional wind blowing ripples and waves across the water didn't exactly help, either. Luckily, she was far enough away from the waterfall that the churning didn't bother her, and the faint rushing in her ears was all she heard.

Her eyes trained on the surface, she was only half-aware of something circling up above her — a bird, probably, trying to steal her catch — and so she moved it to the back of her mind. She dipped her head back under a few more times, watching her prey, then… _Dove._

On instinct, her legs stretched out to trap it, and her mouth opened to fill with water, sucking the fish towards it. Still, it nearly escaped, and she thrashed around in an attempt to keep it in. Eventually, though, the fish submitted, and she watched it travel out of the sight of her eyes as it was guided into her gaping maw—

And then she went airborne. _Literally._

Without any warning, her body was dragged up out of the lake, the immense pressure of the water pushing down on her wings and back. Caught by surprise, she lost her breath, and water flooded into her nostrils, down her throat. Quickly, though, her head was brought out of the water by the unseen force, and she felt herself being dragged… backwards?

Whatever it was, it was obviously struggling with her weight, and couldn't lift her completely out — especially not with the water creating even more drag. It was a miracle that whatever it was hadn't been pulled down into the water with her. But it gave her time to react.

So she kicked and screeched. She flailed all of her limbs in every direction she could and bit the air, teeth extended but clamping down on nothing. Whatever it was had her by the scruff of her neck, making it almost impossible to reach them, never mind actually see what it was. She felt her wings hit something hard a few times, but it didn't seem to have much effect.

 _It's a dragon,_ she realized. It could _only_ be a dragon — nothing else she knew of could lift a thousand-pound reptile straight up out of a _lake,_ and it seemed to be flying, as well. The question only remained, what kind?

By the time it dropped her on the sand, her vision had gone red. She whipped around, ready to fight, claws out and low to the ground…

… Only to see Stormfly standing there, looking both concerned and a little hurt.

Her vision was blood-red as she stopped herself from pouncing at the last moment. Every muscle in her body was telling her to _attack,_ to rip apart whatever lowly being dared challenge her, _humiliate_ her. It took every screaming bit of her mind to tell her form not to, and by the time she had calmed herself down she felt about ready to collapse.

Instead, she settled for lying down with a weary grumble, Stormfly still chortling worriedly in front of her. She used that time to try to figure out what had happened. A basket had been tossed against a rock a few feet away from her, torn open, fish spilling out of a large hole, and onto the ground. That, paired with Stormfly's sudden worry...

 _Gods, girl,_ she realized, _I'm so sorry._

The Nadder, Odin forgive, had thought she was drowning. It must've looked that way from above — thrashing around wildly in the water after floating on the top, dead-still for so long. No wonder she had pulled her out… She would've done the same for her in a heartbeat, or at least tried.

The dragon cooed again, head down, crawling toward her submissively. Calming herself, Astrid did the same, lowering her head as close as she could to the ground, as her own form of apology. If only the two could talk — she wanted more than anything to tell Stormfly that she was fine, that she had been swimming, but even more so how sorry she was for biting and screeching at her like that. Of course, there _was_ a way… but she wasn't about to resort to that. Not with the way Toothless frowned or changed the topic whenever she asked him about it.

After a moment had passed, each lifted their heads, and Stormfly backed away, aware that her anger had died off, but still cautious. Astrid winced, avoiding her gaze as she padded over to the basket. If there was one thing she never wanted to do, it was scare her dragon. Ironic, given how much she had tried to do just that in Berk's original version of "Dragon Training."

She had to make up for her actions, to thank her, somehow. She thought through ideas as she gulped down her meal. It was only when she saw Stormfly hungrily eye the last fish slide down her throat that she had the idea.

She thought back to one of the last times she had saved Hiccup. He had nearly fallen into a sinkhole twenty feet deep in the ground while they were eating lunch on one of their patrol missions, and she had just managed to catch his shirt before he'd tumbled in. Hiccup hadn't done much more than mumble a quick, "Thanks, Astrid," — he was beyond used to it, by then — but Toothless…

Oh, gods. Why did she have to go and swallow _all_ of them?

Acting on impulse, she directed the fish still travelling down her throat into her second stomach, shivering as she felt it land behind her chest.

Ignoring that as best she could, she tried to remember their conversation from a few nights prior. " _You just need to… Want it, to come back up,"_ he had said, " _and let your throat take over."_

Of course, he had also mentioned that she wouldn't like it, and if it was _Toothless_ saying that… Her first attempt had been less than successful, for sure. But that was really only because Syl had been there… Or so she told herself. And shooting a fireball at Stormfly wasn't exactly the 'thanks' she was aiming for, either.

Slowly, she repeated the method from that night, pulling, _squeezing_ the fish back up her throat. It wasn't uncomfortable, not really… Just very, _very_ weird. She wanted to swallow it, more than anything. She had thrown up before, but not on purpose, not an _undigested fish,_ and never something quite so… _slippery._ But as much as her human memories and instincts told her that this was wrong, she had to do it — it was the only real way she could think of to thank the dragon. And it wasn't just for this, either — the girl had been there for her since this all started, helped them in any way she could. She had shown no appreciation for that. None at all. It was time she started — the dragon deserved it, and… and she missed her.

As she felt the fish launch up onto her tongue, she closed her mouth, feeling it vibrate as she gave a purr to get the Nadder's attention. Stormfly looked up and gave a curious chirp as she stood there, trying to look away. After a second, however, she met her eyes; this was her dragon, after all, and she had nothing to be ashamed of, even if the taste of the fish on her tongue made her want to swallow it all over again.

Slowly, awkwardly, she opened her maw, her teeth retracting — she wasn't entirely sure how — as the fish slipped down onto the ground. Covered in saliva and other sticky fluids as it was, she tried not to look at it, but couldn't help it. It made it a bit easier as Stormfly inched forward, glancing up at her, as if still nervous, and picked it up with her beak, chirping happily as she swallowed it herself, as Astrid tried not to _really_ vomit. The dragon had tried to cough up food for her enough times… But this was taking it to another level.

All at once, the leftover tension disappeared, as Stormfly hopped back up, and began chirping again, jumping about on her feet. Astrid had to smile — she had forgotten how playful the dragon was. Of course, the Nadder used to tease her, and steal her things — but normally she would wrestle them back, not pursuing her invitation on the excuse that she didn't have enough time, or was busy, or whatever other reason always got in the way. In the few cases she did, it was rarely anything rough, or dangerous — normally just tossing a shield for her to catch would do for a few minutes, at least.

Now, however, she had all the time in the world — perhaps even genuinely, though she tried not to think about it. And as far as playing rough or competitive went… Well, she wasn't exactly the limited, skin-bound creature she'd been before.

Her smile turned into a grin as she spread her front legs and lowered her head down, feeling her wings flare out a bit in anticipation as the Nadder mirrored her. Who said she couldn't have a little fun, anyway?

* * *

Astrid's father stumbled out of bed, barely half-awake. Still, he was sure he had heard something — or more _felt_ something, really. Though it wasn't all too uncommon an occurrence for things to rumble and shake the foundations of the house — Berk had more thunderstorms than all of the other islands combined, it seemed, not to mention the dragons that romped around outside all the time — one in the middle of the night was a bit strange, to say the least. It was probably nothing, he knew, but it never hurt to check.

And of course, the first thing he would do was check on Astrid.

He felt his way around the room until he reached the kitchen, at which point he lit the candle that he always kept there for just this reason. The light that followed showed nothing really out of place. The light reflected oddly off of the wall in front of the landing, but other than that, nothing seemed too out of place. He opened the door slightly, out of a mere curiosity, but everything seemed alright there, as well. Dawn was just setting in, and a few people were milling about, just starting their day. For a moment, he could've sworn he saw a large, dark mass disappearing around a corner a few houses down, but he ignored it — the light played strange tricks in the morning, anyway.

Closing the door, he moved over to the stairs, casting the light against the wall as he made his way up. Strange — it was as if some object had been thrown against the wall, splitting the boards. Almost in the shape of a—

"I'm here, Dad!"

The voice startled him, though he kept a firm grip on the candle. It was Astrid, for certain, though something about her voice seemed different — weaker, almost. Though she had been _different_ ever since she and Hiccup had returned, this was even more so. Something about the way she spoke just seemed… Off.

"Astrid?" He asked, peering into the darkness. A figure stood near the top of the stairs — his daughter, he knew, her thin frame made that clear — though the light didn't quite reach her. He took a step up the stairs, and she shrunk back. "Are ye' alright? I heard something, it sounded like—"

"Oh, yeah," she responded. "It was just me. I… tripped."

"Sounded like a lot more than a trip to me…" He stopped. There was something else there, that came out of the silence in between their conversation. It sounded like… Laughter. A girl's laughter?

"Is someone else there?" he asked. "Don't take me for a fool, young lady! What's going on?"

There was a pause for a moment. The laughter stopped.

"Alright… You caught me, Dad," she admitted. "I've been trying to teach Stormfly how to speak all night. She's been, uh, looking through my window. She's got laughing down, but nothing else so far."

"Trying to…" He did a double take. Teaching the dragon to speak? Ha! He couldn't imagine... Then again, his daughter had done stranger things with her new 'friend,' and they certainly spent a lot of time together...

"But what about this mark on the wall, here?" He moved the candle back to the oddly-shaped dent and squinted.

"Oh, that? I, uh… Well, it's kind of embarrassing, really. I'd thought I'd heard something, too — before all of this. So I went downstairs to check… But I tripped on the bottom step, and my axe hit the wall. I, uh… I hope you aren't mad…"

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. He wasn't mad, really. Just… Confused. Something about her story didn't add up. In fact, _nothing_ did...

"I can fix it for you," she continued.

… But he didn't really feel like figuring it out anyway. He still had an hour or so before he really needed to be up and about, and as much as he cherished the few talks his daughter was willing to have with him, reaching dead ends and searching for an explanation when she obviously wasn't willing to talk about it before he was even fully awake wasn't at the top of his list of priorities. Besides, everything seemed to be alright, and if she was willing to fix the wall...

"Well, then," he said, with a shrug. "G'night, Astrid. Ye' don't get enough rest as it is — make sure yer ready to tackle the day, eh?"

"Tell me about it," he heard her mumble.

He chuckled to himself as he walked back to bed, blowing out the candle. He didn't have much to worry about, really. How much trouble could a teenage girl possibly get herself into, anyway?

* * *

Upstairs, Hiccup was about two shaky breaths away from a full-on panic attack. Syl, meanwhile, could barely contain herself.

"You- you actually drank…" She snorted again, and brought a hand up to her face, trying to muffle the giggles that followed. "What were you _thinking?"_

"I don't know!" He replied, Astrid's naturally harsh tone adding to the effect. "I didn't even know it would work… I kind of hoped it wouldn't, to be honest."

"Out of all the things you could've done," Syl shook her head, incredulous, then winced. "It almost makes me forget about this headache… Don't you have some trip to an island today, or something?"

"Oh, gods," his eyes widened. "Dad is going to _kill_ me! Could you… Could you get me some mead from downstairs? I think her father keeps some in the kitchen, somewhere. Not like any Viking on Berk doesn't."  
"I know. Where do you think I got mine from, last night?" she narrowed her eyes. "And why should I get it for you, anyway? You got yourself into this mess. You and your dragon, that is."

"Well, you look like her, at least! And after that, I don't want to take any more risks, here! That was already… Too weird."

It was true — as soon as Astrid's father had gone back to his room, Syl had pulled him back into hers, and shut the door behind her, if only so that she could properly laugh at and tease him without worrying about being heard. Still, the early-morning light coming in through the window revealed what he had hoped — in the time it had taken the two of them to have their "little chat," Syl had managed to finish putting on her clothes, for the most part, and had even dyed her hair, though it was still soaking wet.

"Fine, but at least give me this, first," she said, grabbing the now slightly-depleted vial out of his hands. Opening the cap, she let a drop fall onto her tongue, grimacing at the rotten aftertaste it left on her taste buds. Then she set the vial back down in her dresser, closed it, and moved to the door.

"Now there's _two_ Astrids," she teased. "Three, if you count the one in the woods. Though in my opinion… Anyway, if her Dad hears us now, he'll just think she's talking to herself."

She disappeared down the stairs, and Hiccup sat back on her bed, putting his head in his hands. After a moment, however, he remembered _whose_ bed it was that he was sitting on, and jumped up, cheeks reddening.

" _Hiccup!_ "

He tried to pretend that he hadn't heard the curt-whisper that had come from below, though he knew he had — it didn't sound good.

He risked a step outside the door, just barely able to make out Syl's outline in the kitchen below.

"Bad news," she whispered again. "I, ah, seem to have drunk the last bottle last night…"

He fell back against the wall, a wave of dread sweeping over him. _Oh, I'm just Loki's favorite spectacle, aren't I?_

"You're sure? It's pretty dark down there..." He asked, finding it difficult to manage a quieter tone with Astrid's voice.

"I _thrive_ in the dark," she replied, almost offended. "Believe me — there's nothing here."

He bit his lip, running through the options. Eventually, he settled on one — it would take more time than he would've liked, but if Syl was fast, and quiet…

"Alright, listen closely, _please,"_ he told her. "In my house — you know where it is, it's not far — there is a cabinet with a few casks of mead in it. It's toward the rear of the house, near the backdoor. If you take Toothless—"

"No! No," she said, cutting him off. "I'll go. By myself. I don't need a _dragon_ to protect me, Hiccup. I can handle myself."

"Alright," he replied, nervously. "But please, at least let him go with you. If nothing else, it'll make you just walking into our house look a little less… Weird."

"Because coming in _here_ with him wasn't? Coming into _my room?"_ She shook her head. "It's a blade with two edges, Hiccup — one way or another."

"Well, ok. Maybe that was wrong, but— wait, Syl? Where are you going? I didn't tell you how to get in!"

A crack of light slipped in as she squeezed herself through the door. "Don't worry about it, Hiccup," she whispered, closing the door behind her. "In the meantime… It's bad enough that I have to fill in for one of you… You owe me one. _Several,_ now. So try not to get yourself into any more trouble than you already have, 'k? Cya,"

By the time his head was in his hands yet again, the door was already closed.

* * *

"T-Thinks I'm some k-kind of..." Syl shivered, searching for the word. The early morning was cold, even with the rising sun, and the freezing, ghost-blonde hair plastered against her head certainly didn't help, either. Still, she tried to look tough — she had been attempting to master Astrid's stone-cold glare, judging only by what she managed as a dragon — and sneered whenever her teeth chattered, as if challenging the cold to hit harder. On the inside, however, she only wanted to run back to the house, dive under the covers of her bed or stock the firepit up to her height with kindling and risk burning the whole village down. She would be warm then, at least.

Walking up the sloped path eventually leading toward the Great Hall, and Hiccup's more modest abode below, the term finally came to her. "Errand runner! A messenger, or a servant..."

She continued her mutterings up the slope, and was almost caught unawares when a dark shape materialized a few feet away from her. She whipped her head around, groaning as a strand of damp hair slapped down over her eye.

It was the damned Night Fury again.

He was padding along within about ten feet of her, the maximum distance she allowed him to stay within when they had to be near each other, for one reason or another. She was a bit surprised he had remembered her rule, at all — it usually took some not-so-subtle shuffling away and shoo-ing before he would keep his distance — but she figured it was probably just to mock her, anyway.

Immediately, the incident of the dream and her fear of drowning via dragon-saliva returned to her. She clenched a fist, and pointed back down the path with the other.

"No. _No,"_ she began. "I am _not_ in the mood. So go—"

But then, so too did the nightmare that came before it. Her brother, the bread… It would've ended badly, she knew. They always did, the dreams. And despite her own personal reservations about water… As she'd admitted earlier, it hadn't been the _worst_ way to wake up. Not lately, anyway.

 _Gods, am I seriously considering being woken up by a Night Fury licking my toes… okay?_ She almost felt like getting angry again for a moment, until she sighed, the headache from the mead draining her energy — not to mention how horrible the rest of her felt. _I really have hit rock bottom._

Then, of course, there was Hiccup's advice. Her costume had been rather rushed, meaning that Toothless walking alongside her — or at least _near_ her — would make it less likely for anyone to second-guess…

The dragon seemed to be raising an eyebrow at her as she made a decision.

"Fine," she stomped her foot. "You can come along… I guess it is _your_ house, anyway…"

The dragon's eyes lit up a bit as she finished, though he made no reaction otherwise, continuing to follow along behind her quietly up the hill. She sniffed, but kept quiet, as well.

 _A Night Fury,_ she thought. The _Night Fury, if Hiccup's claims and the stories are true. Though at the moment, I suppose there are two..._

Still, if Toothless _was_ the only _real_ one, the one who had been the source of nightmares for years, who had destroyed towers and buildings in every Village for hundreds of miles around…

This should have brought another wave of anger and hatred for the creature, she knew… But instead, there was only curiosity. Few people outside of Berk had ever seen him, she knew. Some even thought he was just a myth or legend, he attacked villages so rarely, and was impossible to spot at night. But here he was, trotting along next to her without a care in the world. And he seemed to understand human speech well enough…

"You're a lot smaller than I thought you'd be," she blurted out, deciding not to think about it too much.

The dragon stopped and gave an annoyed warble, and she turned to face it.

"I mean, I'm not saying that's a bad thing… Or a good thing, for that matter," she added. "It's just a fact. The books make you out to be the stuff of nightmares, y'know."

The dragon rolled his eyes, and Syl couldn't help but snort. "What? It's true. We were told to 'Hide, and pray you don't find us,' if we ever heard you. Or _saw_ you, I guess, but up until a little while ago, that had never happened."

The dragon seemed to frown at this, and slowed down a bit, as if it was _actually_ considering what she had to say. It was probably just playing with her, she knew, teasing her feelings and emotions just as a child teases an ant with the sun and a broken glass bottle. But...

"Well," she started, recapturing the Night Fury's attention. "I suppose I'm just trying to say that, you, uh… Well, the other islands got some things wrong about you. They need to update their books, anyway. Dusty old things aren't good for much anymore…"

It wasn't exactly a compliment, but it was the closest thing she was willing to let herself give. Even then she had to remind herself that it was _wrong._ She would never admire or, gods forbid, _respect_ a dragon. Certainly not to its face, anyway.

She stopped as they reached the house, evaluating its openings for the best way in. Hiccup seemed to be about to tell her something about how to get inside; perhaps there was a key of some sort, or an unlocked window. She wasn't sure, but it didn't matter.

She could always pick the door, of course. It was the Chief's house, so it probably had a better lock than most — and given Hiccup's tendency to tinker, there was the possibility that he had added his own modifications, as well. That and, of course, if people were to see _Astrid_ trying to break into Hiccup's house, it might raise some eyebrows. Then again, it was still early, and not many people were out yet. In a few moments, too, the rising light would be in _just_ the position for her to be able to see the door clearly—

Her thoughts were interrupted as a confused, but angry growl came from behind her.

What she saw as she turned around might almost have made her laugh any other day. In fact, it almost did just then.

The Night Fury, the terrifying beast of darkness and offspring of lightning and death… Had gotten a loose nail from the house behind them stuck through his tailfin.

For a moment, she only stood there and watched. He wasn't really doing much, only wiggling it ever so slightly. She decided this was rather stupid of him, until she realized it was the exact opposite; not only was the nail caught through the delicate cloth of the fin, but, from what she could tell from where she was standing, it was bent in such a way that made it nearly impossible for him to slide off. At least, not without contorting his tail in a way she knew was beyond unnatural. If he moved back or forth only a little, the fabric would tear, leaving a gash and probably not fixing the problem, anyway. He was getting anxious, though — his confused purrs were turning into soft growls, which would soon draw attention from the few people milling about in the Village.

Syl rubbed her temples in utter disbelief of what she was about to do. If her headache was fleeting before, it had come back then in full force, thanks in part to the dragon's own error. But if she let him keep going like this…

"Here, uh," she inched toward him, aiming for his tailfin. Toothless stopped in his attempts at escape to stare at her, equally wary. "I'm just… Let me, ah,"

Still inching forward, she swallowed and tried not to look at the dragon's face, knowing quite well that its eyes were boring straight into her back. Neither of them trusted the other, not really — but this had to be done, it seemed.

Eventually, Syl somehow reached his tailfin, sweat beaded against her forehead as she lowered a hand down to the tailfin. The darkness of the small corridor between the two houses made it difficult to see, but she was used to working in shadows. "Ok…" She finished, more for herself than the dragon.

She was as delicate as possible. Hiccup had made the cloth rugged enough, she could tell — it was surprising the nail had even punctured it — but with the amount of power she knew that tail had, she moved the fin up and away from it with the pace of a snail, hands trembling throughout. To keep her mind off of it, she focused on the creature's hide, only to become genuinely intrigued. Each scale was almost exactly the same size and shape as those surround them, except in the places where they were forced to curve to fit the contour of the dragon's body. Viewed as close as she was, they were somehow both mirrored and matte, shiny but not quite reflective, either. Even with the wear Syl knew they had gone through in the past few days alone, they were clearer than the most polished blades she had ever seen. It was only after she released it that she realized she'd been holding her breath.

The dragon, fortunately, made no sudden movements. It seemed to understand, at least, her nervousness in the situation, especially given the distance she usually kept between them. Still... it was a rare opportunity, for her. She blinked.

Suddenly, curiosity overtook her, and she found her hands moving down to feel the scales on his tail. The initial heat of them shocked her, and she might've pulled back, if she hadn't been even more intrigued. They were hard and smooth, and every law of nature should have dictated they be cold. But instead, a warmth radiated off of the creature, spilling out of his scales and making her palms tingle.

He bristled slightly under her touch, giving a short little purr, and she realized her hands must've felt cold to him. It was then that she chose to pull away, but not quickly, no: slowly, finding herself staring at her open hands again in awe. _I just touched a Night Fury._

After another moment had passed, she looked up again, to see that the dragon had turned around. He was staring at her. Though she couldn't recall when, they had stepped out of the shadows, into the light of the early-morning sun.

What happened next, she swore for every second of every hour of every day that followed, was not her. It was something else, _someone_ else, deep inside of her that came out then, the compelled her to step back, and raise up a palm to the dragon as she stared at him. In response, he closed his eyes, slowly bending his head down into it until he was close, so close. Close enough that she could feel the heat could feel the heat coming off of his scales, knew the touch of them that would soon follow. Closer and closer he came, until he was-

"Astrid!"

Moments before contact, the illusion snapped, and she pulled her hand away, brutally aware of what had nearly happened. Equally, the dragon blinked, confused. Her breathing became heavy, labored, as she attempted to understand what had just _almost_ taken place. What was she doing? What was she _thinking_?

She ground her teeth and curled her palm into a fist as the dragon pulled away, about ready to punch someone — preferably whoever had interrupted her. Not that she had _wanted_ that whole experience to happen, but...

She snapped around, ready for a fight, until she realized who it was.

"Uh… Hi, Chief," she stuttered, her breathing shaky for an entirely different reason, now.

"Thought Hiccup went off to find ye'! Say, ye' haven't seen him, 'ave you? S'pposed to be sending off on his first trip today, though I'm sure ye' already knew that. Gobber's got the papers and everythin'!"

She fought to maintain her composure. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Toothless slink back a bit. "You know… I can't say that I have, sir. I'm sure he'll turn up, though. As long as his dr— ah, Toothless is around here, he can't be far..."

"Indeed," he said, his tone losing a bit of the cheeriness of a moment before. "In fact… I've been meaning to talk to you about him. About, well, about you and him, actually."

Syl fought to find words, but couldn't manage more than a nod. For once, she couldn't think of a way out of a situation — not a good one, anyway. Stoick took a key out of his back pocket, and opened the door to the house, beckoning them both in.

"Mind joinin' me for a pint? Ye' may not be quite old enough yet, but, well, a little bit o' mead's never hurt a Viking now, has it?" He chuckled a bit, still holding the door.

Syl forced a smile as she walked in, taut as a bowstring. "No sir, it certainly hasn't."

* * *

If there was ever anything Astrid hadn't been good at, it was knowing how and when to stop.

Plenty of people had told her to throughout her life; her parents, telling her to stop staying out so late training. Hiccup, telling her to stop worrying so much about everything. Snotlout, whining at her to stop punching him in the face after he had tried to kiss her again. She took their gestures as challenges, though, and kept going until she was too tired to do anymore.

Rarely, though, did she get to have fun. Having built her life on a daily cycle of exercising, eating and sleeping, the newfound lifestyle that came from peace with the dragons simply cleared up a lot of time she hadn't had before. Still, she filled that time in the same way she had the rest, but also learned to glean fun from riding Stormfly in the mornings and afternoons, as well as daily opportunities to mess with Snotlout and the twins. And even then, the typical 'fun' for other kids — the playing, and laughing, and running through the Village — had never been enough for her. She needed a challenge — a competition.

Luckily, Stormfly understood that better than anyone else. Hiccup was fine, sure, and she could convince the occasional Viking or twin to a brawl if they were feeling particularly cocky at the right time. Still, it was always too easy, too simple to win those, the threat of defeat never quite there, unless she wanted it to be. But Stormfly was a proud dragon, through and through. She cared about Astrid, she knew, and protected her. But when it came to their equally strong competitive spirits? Well, in the few times where they didn't have to work together, the true nature of the two of them would spark up once again.

So they danced around the beach, making mock-snaps at each other, flaring their wings out as though about to attack, before falling over laughing, each in their strange, draconic ways. They ran and they raced through the woods, they jumped up onto trees and leaned against them, each trying to uproot them onto the other by strength alone, and invented dozens of other sports, oftentimes on a whim. Time flew by, minutes, maybe hours, it was impossible to tell. Words weren't spoken, but weren't needed, anyway. The rules were always simple, and even Stormfly showed her some things that she knew must have been customary to dragon 'hatchlings,' as Toothless called them. As the sun passed over the time, Astrid felt truly happy for the first time in a while.

Eventually, though, she knew it was time to stop.

Panting and shaking with adrenaline and excitement, she collapsed onto the beach next to the Nadder, who seemed to have just enough energy to remain standing, but looked ready to collapse at any moment, as well. It was the best kind of fun — the Viking kind. It was never any fun at all if you weren't dizzy and light-headed by the end of it.

It was then that Astrid came to yet another realization. She still needed her bath, even more so than she had before.

She had never really finished it, to be fair, and now she was sure she must've stunk more than ever. Sure, she didn't seem to sweat anymore, but with the amount of rolling around in the mud she had been doing during that wrestling match they'd just finished up with, she was sure the need was just as bad, if not worse than it was before. A bath in the nice, cold water also sounded great just then, especially for her already-sore muscles, and if that fish was still there…

Slowly, she got back up to her feet, and began her crawl across the beach. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Stormfly watching her, almost lazily… until she realized where she was going.

Just as she went to set her foot down in the water, something tugged on her tail, pulling her just away.

She smiled and thought to herself, _That was nice, girl. Lots of fun. But I'm done, now._

She turned back to face the dragon, who had a claw wrapped around her tail, clamping it down, and tried to give a low _coo_ that she hoped conveyed the message. Stormfly cocked her head slightly, and released it. As soon as she took another step, however, there came yet another tug, stronger this time, followed by a chirp.

She looked back, starting to get slightly annoyed. _I'm done, girl,_ she thought, giving another coo. Stormfly didn't release her talons.

Astrid narrowed her eyes, thinking she was still playing games until she saw the look in the Nadder's eyes. She was just as serious as Astrid was — she still thought she was going to drown.

 _No girl, look,_ —she batted the water with a paw— _it's okay. I just want a bath._

Stormfly's grip only tightened. Astrid growled slightly and tugged again. She tightened her grip. It was starting to hurt.

It went on for a moment, Astrid tugging, getting less annoyed and more angered, Stormfly acting in kind. This dragon was determined.

Something, deep inside, was telling her this was wrong. Not just annoying, or stupid, but _wrong._ A _Nadder_ shouldn't have challenged her, shouldn't have held her back when she had already made her choice, nor challenged her strength by holding her in such a vulnerable position…

 _Alright. That's enough._ She closed her eyes, then, giving one last effort, she tugged, nearly ripping herself free of the dragon's clutches… Until she brought down her second claw, further up her tail. Astrid was holding back every ounce of her will to turn around and… And what? This was her best friend, she would never—

Stormfly flung out her wings, and _hissed_ at her. On the inside, she knew it was kind, she was just trying to help, even if she didn't know. But from somewhere else, came another message. The look in her eyes, the way she fanned her wings, it was triumphant. _Defiant._ That was all it took.

" _Stop it!"_ she roared. " _Let go of me! Get away!"_

The thought was out before she could take it back. In the heat of the moment, though, she thought little of it.

The Nadder froze as if spooked. Then, slowly, she released her talons, stepping off of her. A wave of dread swept over Astrid as she realized what she had done, remembered what Toothless had once said to her about their voice… The Tala, he had called it.

 _I had gotten in an argument with a gronckle who hadn't brought back enough food one day, and it got so heated that I eventually… Forced, a thought into his mind._

" _No… No, wait!"_ But Stormfly was already readying her wings, as if in a trance, and Astrid slapped herself internally — forcing more thoughts in her mind would only make it worse.

She cried out, instead, but that had no effect, either. She ran across the beach, the joy of only a few minutes before already fleeting.

She watched the dragon fly away as she struggled to think of something, _anything_ she could do.

As she disappeared from her view, soaring over the trees, Astrid buried her head under her claws, wanting to disappear from the rest of the world, to simply cease to exist.

 _What did I just do?_

* * *

"I've wanted to talk with you for a while, Astrid," Stoick said, handing her a mug of mead. "About… Well, about Hiccup."

Syl nodded absently, eyes searching the room, already looking for a way out. The door had been closed behind her, and though it wasn't locked, an escape that way was impossible, anyway. She knew she couldn't just _walk out_ moments after Stoick had invited her into his own home, as much as she really, _really_ wanted to. She couldn't say she had places to be, either — after all, she had told him she had no idea where Hiccup went, and had taken up his offer to share a drink willingly. And if she said she was going to look for him, she would only be wasting time pretending, and if the Chief went with her there was no way she could just go straight back to her house and—

"And, of course… You," Syl's momentary trance ended in a heartbeat, as she did a double take. He wanted to talk about… Her? Well, not _her,_ of course, but what did he want with Astrid?

"It's just that, ah," he continued, obviously unsure of how to communicate with someone so much younger than him — it explained a lot about Hiccup's relationship with him.

"Ye'… Spend a lot of time with Hiccup. Or, around him, I should say. Ye' see him a lot more than I do, in fact…"

Her eyes widened, and she stared down into her drink as she realized what he was attempting to tell her — or must have been.

"I suppose, what I'm trying to say is—"

"No, no, Chief," she cut him short, making a decision. This was way too awkward for the both of them, much more than he understood, and besides, if Astrid ever realized that this conversation had happened without her…

"I just need to tell you… Hiccup and I aren't ready to pursue _that_ kind of, uh, relationship. Not yet. We're just friends, and ah, marriage isn't really on the horizon for either of us right now, either."

There was a pause. The fire crackled and jumped in the pit.

"Marriage?" He asked, raising his voice. " _Marriage?"_

Syl winced — even she knew the consequences of talking back to a Chief that way — until he started laughing.

"Oh, you thought that… Ah, kids… _Marriage…"_ He went on chuckling for a moment, before clearing his throat.

"I'm not talking about _marriage,"_ he said.

"Wait… What?" She asked, confused. "What did you mean, then?"

"Well, your guidance, of course!" He told her. "Like I was saying, ye' spend so much time around him, it's nice to see that you're starting to rub off on him a little. He might've stood up to me a few years ago — in fact he did, a _lot —_ but would he have been able to change my mind about the book? About sending him off on a war mission?"

He chuckled again, and she exhaled. The relief washing over her body almost distracted her from the fact that Stoick was still talking.

"I really just wanted to thank you, Astrid. Hiccup is, well, Hiccup. You know what I mean. It's nice to see you bring out a wee bit of Viking in him every now and then," He shook his head, "But just to know that Astrid Hofferson's even _considered_ becoming my son's Wife, my future Daughter-in-Law…"

He smiled, then pushed the mug she was holding meekly in one hand towards her. It nearly spilled. "Come on, Astrid! Drink a little. It's practically a cause to celebrate! And like I said, it won't hurt ye' to take a few risks!"

She tried to fake a smile. "You know, Chief… I haven't been feeling great since this morning."

"Oh, come now, Astrid! Where's that ol' Viking spirit gone off to?" He asked. She managed another smile, but held her ground.

"No, really… I'm not sure this would be the best idea. Ever since I, uh, learned that Hiccup was leaving…"

The romance may have been fake, but the sickness was real — just a whiff of the liquid in her mug nearly made her want to puke. She already had a distaste for alcohol before that day. She doubted she would be doing any more drinking for quite a while, unless, of course, she had to…

"Oh, I see," Stoick said, raising an eyebrow. "Well, if you're really not doing that well, ye' know where the privy is."

She nodded and, completely guessing, began walking toward the back of the house. Surely enough, a small room was sectioned off near the back entrance, and she slipped inside, pulling the door shut behind her.

Unintentionally, she had taken the mug of mead with her. She was more focused on her current situation than the fact, though. She had gotten away from the conversation, sure, but if she just disappeared out the back…

Slowly, she re-opened the door, peeking down into the main hall. Stoick sat in front of the fire pit, probably still chuckling at the thought of 'Astrid's' concern for her relationship with Hiccup. More importantly, he was facing away from her.

That was when she spotted the cupboard next to the door, and realized she vaguely remembered Hiccup saying something about mead stored inside. It only served to remind her of her purpose there, however — when she opened it, her hopes were dashed, as she was met with nothing but an empty box inside. Stoick must have used the last of his supply to pour their drinks.

As quietly as she had stepped out of the washroom, she was even quieter in opening the back door, and more cautious — open only enough for her to squeeze through the crack, silent and without letting any light in — and she was outside.

The fresh air felt amazing, renewing. The freedom that came from sneaking out of any building was always the best kind, but then again, she had never been in a case quite like this. The need to get away, to escape from the personal tension and awkwardness that she knew awaited her with the Chief inside, to run back to Hiccup with the mead, or even better, into the woods where nobody would find her, to be alone… It was almost overwhelming. It was what _she_ would do, as well. But as far as what _Astrid_ would do...

Of course, she didn't intend to just walk back in there. She needed to get the mead to Hiccup, somehow. After that, she could talk her way out of the situation, perhaps, and slip away. But how…?

Just then, Syl realized she was being watched.

A pair of yellow-green eyes with black, oval pupils peered at her from the shadow of the house, and she almost jumped. Once again, she tried to conjure up the resentment, the suspicion of the Night Fury she had once been able to so easily. He hadn't gone in the house, even when Stoick had invited him in several times. It was as if he had known she would be out there, had known she would escape that way…

 _Had known that I would need his help._ She frowned. The dragon purred, sending shivers down her spine.

"I'm still mad at you for… Earlier," she said, with a sneer. The dragon tilted his head, but stayed.

"But… I guess I _could_ use your help…"

Taking the cue, Toothless stepped into the light, just enough for the details of the rest of his face to become visible. Syl started to backstep, but then stopped herself. _I need to do this,_ she sighed. Not that she needed to do anything for Hiccup, of course. This was just for… for…

"Listen," she whispered, softening her tone a little. "You need to get this," —she held up the mug of mead still in her hand— "To Hiccup. Got that?"

He nodded, and she swallowed hard, incredulous. She was actually asking a favor from a dragon. A favor she didn't even need to make, really. She owed nothing to Hiccup, at all, and damn well wanted to make sure it stayed that was — she was unaccustomed to people being in _her_ debt, after all, and she was starting to enjoy it, using that as her reasoning. That, and the fact that at least it would get the dragon out of her sight for a while. His presence wasn't quite as _threatening_ as usual, but she wasn't about to invite him inside with her, either. What had happened earlier, in front of the house, in front of the _whole village..._

She shuffled around the dragon, making her way to the small pouches and hooks attached to his saddle. Selecting one, she slid the bottom of the mug down in, as snugly as she could make it.

" _There_ ," she whispered, backing away as quickly as she could. "Now go! And try not to spill any. Though who knows how much he even needs, or can take? Hiccup thinks I can't hold my liquor... I'm surprised he can even hold up his clothes with that frame..."

She almost thought she saw the dragon roll his eyes, but figured it was just her imagination. But then, he glanced back at the door she had come through, and gave a low, cool purr, which even she knew had to mean _something_.

"What?" She asked him, then mentally slapped herself for actually expecting an answer. The dragon, on the other hand, nodded at the door again, then looked back at her, and down into the Village, to freedom…

"Oh… You want me to come with you. To go back to Hiccup?" She asked. He nodded again. Where had he gotten so smart, anyway? Or more importantly… How could she even understand what he was trying to tell her?

"I, uh, can't," she tried to explain, gesturing back at the door. "I've got… Talking, to do. Human talking. With the Chief. Y'know, the big guy with the red hair? That's slaughtered hundreds of your kind?"

Toothless grumbled, and even narrowed his eyes a bit, her words seeming to have some kind of effect on him, and she had to hold back a smirk.

 _Managing to piss off a Night Fury. A_ real _Night Fury, that is,_ she told herself. _Not bad, Syl._

Still, the dragon gestured down the hill. What was this game he was playing, anyway? Whatever it was, Syl decided, two could play at it.

"No, I'm fine," Syl said with a gentle smile, feigning warmth. "I'll stay here, okay? I can get through this on my own. Go back to Hiccup, I can distract him here until he's ready. I know how to handle myself. I… I can do this."

By the time she had finished, however, the words were more for herself than the dragon, and she caught herself. This stirred up another wave of resentment towards the beast, and yet again she began to question what his intentions were.

The game ended there, however, as Toothless gave what she assumed was the dragon equivalent of the shrug, and began trotting down the hill. Yet again, she was amazed — without even glancing back at it, he had kept the mug from bouncing and spilling all the way down the hill, moving his legs to adjust to the contours of the slope, using his tail from time to time for balance.

Snapping herself out of it, she turned away. He was a Night Fury — of course he would know what he was doing. Just as _she_ knew what _she_ was doing. At least, that was her last thought as she slipped back into the house, pulling the door back shut behind her, feeling the imprisonment of the walls around her once again. Luckily, the Chief hadn't seemed to have noticed her short disappearance from the house, and was still facing the fire pit. Still, she could feel something in the room that wasn't there before, could tell something had changed in her absence. It took her a moment to realize what it was.

Stoick was polishing his hammer. The gesture wasn't meant to be threatening — she knew what _that_ looked like all too well — but she slowed down as she reached the fire pit nonetheless.

"Astrid! You surprised me..." He said, as she walked in a wide circle around him to sit down. Something was off in his tone — the rowdy happiness of his voice was no longer truly there; what small joy still remained was fabricated, fake. He seemed to age a year with every word that left his mouth, as he continued,

"You must've spent more time huntin' lately than I thought. Ye've changed. Not many people can sneak up on me… Or dragons, for that matter," he finished with a slow nod, as if considering his words.

"Uh… Thanks," she said, curtly. She was already regretting her decision against leaving.

He looked her up and down, scrutinizingly. It took every fiber of her being not to jump up and run out the front door as fast as she could, never mind resist shifting or fidgeting on the hard, cold wooden stump she was sitting on. She could think of an excuse later on, she reasoned. The 'privy' card had already been taken, of course. Perhaps if she told him—

"I'm going to be honest with you, Astrid," he announced, as though having made a decision of his own. "It's been brought to my attention that, well, you and Hiccup aren't the kids ye' used to be. You're near adults, now. Hiccup's going on these trips and, well, it's time I be honest with the tribe, and you… and myself,"

He took a deep breath, and stared at his hammer for a moment, still contemplating.

"We're at war," he started, rushing the sentence out on an exhale, as though anxious to spit it out. "Or will be, soon enough. If they're smart, they'll hold out attacking until after the winter. Berk is near impossible to reach once the ice sets in, not to mention the storms and snow. It would be a death trap for them to even try to sail…" He trailed off as his tone grew deeper, likely doing his own estimates of blizzards and frosts and food supplies and the like. She frowned, as well — it was common knowledge that so much as _going outside_ in the winter could be deadly, in the right conditions. But then again, the stupidity of Vikings was something that never failed to surprise her, and if this was _her tribe_ they were talking about…

"Nonetheless," he said, retaining his grave complexion. "It will just give us more time to prepare. It doesn't change the truth, either — you're getting older, both of you. And with age comes responsibility.

"You're strong, Astrid. One of the strongest Vikings on Berk, the top of your peers, as you seem to enjoy reminding them," he continued, though there was no humor in his tone. "But more so, you're my son's closest… Friend. And one way or another, you two will one day rule this island, together,"

Syl swallowed. "Uh, gee, Chief… I think it's a little early to be making assumptions—"

"No, no," he said. "Now that you've brought it up, I can see it; there will be no other path or way. And as Chief of Berk, it's my responsibility to ensure that you are prepared, as well. You're a warrior, Astrid. But to lead is much more than to fight in the ranks. Perhaps this _is_ the war to determine the fate of the dragons on Berk, and the rest of the world, as well… But it's a war all the same. Vikings fighting Vikings — the way it's been since long before we sailed here. This is _not_ a bandit raid, not Daggur's twenty or so ships. We will need all the help we can get for this. Every man and woman willing to stand behind us for a thousand miles in every direction.

"With that said," he set down his hammer, and Syl found herself tugging at her shirt. Needless to say, she didn't like where this was going. "The dragons here may still be helpful. It's leverage we have against them that I'm not about to give up — when the day comes, they may not have dragons, but they _will_ have the tools and weapons to fight them. In all my years, I'd never thought I'd say this, but…" He sighed again.

"We need to teach the dragons how to fight. How to do battle alongside humans, to coordinate and destroy the enemies without destroying our own. As much as I'd like to believe they know how already, the truth is, I don't know. You and your friends have trained them well, but when it comes to the rest of 'em, they're still wild. So… while Hiccup's gaining allies, I need someone to work closer to home, to ensure that this island's ready and willing to fight when the time comes. I can take care of the Vikings, with armor, weapons, supplies… But as to the dragons..."

Syl barely held back a wince. Oh, Loki really did love to make her life miserable, didn't he?

"You and Hiccup are the most qualified on this island — the only two I would trust to do that. You can help him out from time to time with his responsibilities, I figure, and the same goes for him. That seems fair, doesn't it? In the meantime, I can start teaching you in the art of warcraft, along with other members of the council. You've been begging to learn for years, haven't you? Well, here's your opportunity. Funny how things work out, isn't it?"

"Yes, sir," Syl's voice was coarse, and dry — and wasn't her own. "It really is."

"So you'll do it, then?" he asked.

Her mouth opened, then closed again. Training dragons — _all_ the dragons — to fight against her own people, her family, and neighbors…

"Sure," she cleared her throat. "What could go wrong?"

Stoick smiled at her, and his mood seemed to lighten a little. "Great! How about your first lesson, then?"

She nodded, only half listening by then. She felt like either crying or punching something. More than anything, though, she wanted to _get out._

"Well, as to your first lesson — knowing your enemy," he said. "Let's see… We'll start with their Chief. Do you know her name?"

 _Oh, gods._

"No, sir," she was barely able to whisper. "I don't."

"Really?" He said, a bit taken aback. "I would think that… Well, never mind. Chief Brenna of the Veiklaðar Tribe, is her title."

By this point, Syl was gripping her skirt so tightly the spikes were starting to cut into her palm.

"Now, she's almost as stubborn as you or me, but we'll get to that later. In fact, she has a daughter. Now, that may not seem important, now, but if we win… Well, we may need someone to take over her tribe. She's not very old, if I remember correctly — about your age, in fact. But that's good. You kids were the first to be convinced about changing your mind about the 'dragon' situation here on Berk. Perhaps you and Hiccup could convince her to change— Wait,"

Syl was beginning to wonder if it was possible to clench one's teeth so hard together they cracked, until Stoick stopped to stare at her right hand, still clutching the skirt.

"What'd ye' do with your mead?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

Shocked, Syl opened her mouth, her tongue fumbling over her sore teeth to form a sentence. Before she could stutter out a lie, however, a banging sound came from outside the door, followed by a voice. It was muffled, but if Syl leaned toward the door, she could almost make it out…

"Where did she even get the… Already got the papers, Toothless… Why do we need to come back…?" Syl's eyes widened as the voice yelled something, louder than before.

There was a loud bang on the door — not so much a knock, as something ramming against it. The voice cried out again. Stoick was confused, as well, though apparently couldn't hear the voice either, as he kept leaning further forward to hear, nearly falling off his stump.

Then, the door burst open. Wood splintered, shooting across the room, and Syl brought her hands up to block her eyes. By some miracle, the door itself stayed on, but flew around on its hinges to slam into the wall, probably leaving a dent she couldn't see. And as to the cause of all of this...

In the doorway stood the Night Fury, looking disoriented yet triumphant as a Viking still standing after a drinking competition. Without hesitating, he walked right up to her, bit down on her leg with his gums, and tugged.

She barely held back a screech, and instinctively ripped it away, her bitterness of only a few moments before now returning in a different form: rage.

Hiccup stumbled through the doorway a few moments later, staring at the door and muttering, "Gods, Toothless… Dad's gonna kill me for— Oh!"

With a start, he seemed to realize that he wasn't the only Viking in the room. "Sy—Astrid! And… Dad. Astrid and Dad. Uh… You're both, uh… here…?"

"Son," Stoick said, his eyes brightening as he stood up. "I've been looking for you. I gave Gobber your—"

"Papers, I know," he said, gesturing to a few pieces of parchment folded under his arm. "He said you were looking for me. Though he didn't mention that Astrid would be, uh…"

He trailed off as his eyes met her own, and she realized how desperate she must have looked. The dragon purred again, and made another move to tug her out the door, but she flinched away.

"So what're ye' doin' here then, son? Wanted to say 'goodbye' to your old man before your big day?" Stoick chuckled again.

"You know, Dad, that's a good question…" He shot a look at the Night Fury, but he wasn't paying attention. Instead, he kept looking back and forth between Syl and the door, as if trying to tell him something. Slowly, Hiccup's eyes widened as he seemed to realize what the dragon was saying.

"I came here... to find Astrid, actually. And to say 'bye' to you, of course. But like I said, Gobber didn't _tell_ me you'd be up here, and I couldn't find her anywhere else. Anyway, _Astrid,_ I need you for a… T-Thing," he seemed to struggle for a moment, before continuing, "Y'know, the thing… With the Compendium?"

"Ah, right," she stood up herself, starting to understand what Hiccup was trying to do. " _That_ thing."

"I see," Stoick furrowed his brows, his tone growing serious once again. "Where is it just now, Hiccup?"

"Safe!" he answered, a bit too quickly. "Plenty safe. There was just something I found in it that I thought I'd need her help with, and since I'm leaving, it's sort of a right-now kinda deal..."

"He's right, Chief," Syl supplied as Hiccup's well of ideas very clearly trickled out. "It was nice talking to you, and all, but Hiccup needs to leave soon, and…" She shrugged, trying to stay casual without revealing how ready she was to spring through the door.

"Well enough, then," Stoick decided, after a moment of strained silence. "I'll leave you two to alone. I understand when I'm no longer wanted. But Astrid… You understand your responsibilities, now?"

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Hiccup raise an eyebrow, but she ignored it, nodding instead. "I… I do, Chief."

Stoick studied her for a moment, before nodding, satisfied. "Good. Hiccup, fly safely. This shouldn't be a hard one for ye', they should sign 'em just fine. Until then... I'll miss ya, son,"

"You too, Dad," Before another word could be spoken, Hiccup grabbed Syl's arm, and the three were out the door and halfway across the Village in a matter of seconds. Neither of them spoke until they had each recovered their breath, and Syl realized they were in the blacksmith. The two-limbed Smith, "Gobber," didn't seem to be there at the time, and Syl remembered the papers Hiccup had supposedly gotten from him, wondering if that had anything to do with it.

Syl released her hand, slapping his away as she realized the two were still clasped together, clammy. Hiccup blushed, and mumbled an apology.

"Well," she began, ensuring first that no one was nearby. "I guess Toothless was able to get you the mead then, huh? Could've gone much worse. Anyway, when you, uh, came through that door… Well, not to say that I didn't _expect_ you to. You did owe me for getting you that. But at the same time, I suppose you didn't _have_ to, so… What I'm trying to say is—"

"Thanks?" Hiccup provided.

Syl sighed. "Thanks."

"Well, it shouldn't be for me," he said, gesturing to the dragon she hadn't even realized had walked in the shop from behind them. "I _was_ a little confused that Toothless was the one who brought the mead back… And a little surprised it was in a mug, though I can't complain — I suppose I should be thanking you for that, by the way. Anyway, when we went back outside, I didn't see you anywhere and figured you had, uh, run off, or something.

"I went to get the papers from Gobber, but as soon as I did… Toothless started running back up the hill to my house, and well… You know the rest. He seemed to know you were in trouble, that you needed to get out. He wanted to help you, Syl."

Syl's eyes widened a bit at the mention of her name — they were in the middle of the village, after all, and Hiccup told her he was known for his slip-ups… But as she looked at him, she could tell; he had meant what he said. He was really trying to tell her something.

She frowned at the dragon. Surely, he hadn't wanted to _help_ her… Had he? He had come back to get the mead from her, but that had only been for Hiccup, she knew. There had to be another explanation for his coming back to the house, but, well, Syl would spend her time coming up with one soon enough. Doubtless, it was something nefarious enough for his reputation — this dragon had already proven before that he was more than met the eye, and after almost being _tricked_ into bonding with it… She wasn't about to start trusting it so easily.

Hiccup frowned, as well, no doubt as suspicious of her as she was of the Night Fury.

What happened in there, anyway? Don't get me wrong — I know better than anyone just how fun those little chats with my father are, but… Well, it's not really normal that he would just invite Astrid — you — into our house, like that. Was there something he wanted to talk to you about? That he wanted you to do?"

She blinked, snapping back to reality for the umpteenth time that day. "He wants me to… Take over the dragons, here on Berk. Train them for… For war."

"War… Against… Oh," he said, his voice growing hollow as he finished. There was an uneasy pause as each considered what it meant. Hiccup opened his mouth, likely about to reassure her somehow, before letting out a sigh, his shoulders falling. One of the papers under his arm slipped out onto the ground as he did, and he stooped to pick it up.

"Did you agree?" He asked quietly, his tone cold, but real.

"I… Did.," she answered, letting out her own breath. "But—"

"But it's not exactly easy to say no to one of my father's 'deals,' is it?" He gave a weak laugh. "Believe me, I should know… The day I met Toothless, I… Well, that's not important. But… It's not too late. You could still go back there, tell him you can't do it. I know the kind of consequences this sort of thing could have later on, and it is your tribe…"

She shook her head. "No, they betrayed me. Don't get me wrong — you and all your dragons aren't exactly my first choice, either. But if this is what I have to do, and it'll give me revenge on them — _all_ of them…"

She shivered. "Anyway, what did you find in the book last night, after I left? I'm assuming you left it with Gothi, but for once, I don't blame you. And how did Toothless get the mead up to the second floor so quickly, anyway? Surely he didn't risk the stairs again?"

The dragon in question gave a low, annoyed growl. "He jumped on the roof, and I got it through the window. And yes, after you, uh, _left,_ I went up to Gothi's a little while ago and left it with her, along with the recipe that you… borrowed, though we did make a copy. I just had time to skim it last night, and the first thing I could find was some poem about a dragon slayer, but…" He grimaced, catching his breath. "You can't just keep changing the subject forever, Syl. We will talk about this — eventually."

She didn't respond, and Hiccup looked away.

"I should go. We sent a message to the Stone Spears that we'd be there before noon, today. I'm already late, and…" Hiccup trailed off, before turning back to her. "Goodbye, Syl."

She nodded, and Hiccup clambered onto Toothless. As they took off, though, it wasn't the young man on the back she stared at. It was the Night Fury. She didn't even notice as Stormfly came to land outside the blacksmith.

She thought about what Hiccup had told her, about the way her hand had risen up to meet the dragon, the way it might've fit into the curve of his face, the peculiar way it felt when she had done the same with Stormfly. She watched the two until they were no more than a speck on the horizon, and suddenly disappeared, flying above the clouds.


	23. The Ambush

Chapter 23

 **Hello!**

 **Glad to see you here! I really don't have that much to say before you start, for once, so I'm gonna keep it short and simple; I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and be sure to follow for updates and leave reviews! I treasure any and all feedback you have to offer!**

 **I don't own How to Train Your Dragon.**

* * *

 _ **Several Days Later.**_

Syl frowned. "Why am I here, again?"

Hiccup sighed, flatly reiterating what they had gone over countless times on the flight over. He had hoped she was listening; but, of course, she had chosen to reveal that she hadn't heard a word he'd said only once they had landed.

"My Dad thought it would be a good idea to start having more than one rider go on this trip, to show that dragons _really are_ living with Vikings on Berk — that it isn't just 'me and a deadly Night Fury,' as I believe he put it. Fishlegs doesn't do well with crowds, Snotlout is _Snotlout_ , and the twins… Well, they'd probably have set half the village on fire before I could even get a word in edgewise with anybody. Besides, with your new _role_ in the village… I guess it just came together too well," he finished, only to realize that she _still_ didn't appear to be listening, taking the time to scrutinize their surroundings instead.

"So, let me get this straight," she began. "I'm on an island I've never been to, so I can prove something I don't believe in, in order to rally Vikings against my own people to eventually launch an attack with creatures I _absolutely_ loathe. Does that sound right?"

Hiccup looked away. "Uh, I mean, it's not really… if you look at it that way... y-yeah, that's it, I guess..."

"Right," she sighed. "Let's get started."

They had landed in the bay of the Clouded Valley tribe, aptly named; a low fog hung densely around the island and sea surrounding, making it impossible to see beyond the harbor, which stretched half a mile in each direction, a low dock surrounding the water's edge before curving off toward the ocean, out of sight. The masts, beams, and sails of ships poked through the smog in strange ways, and more than once he mistook some for the heads of Monstrous Nightmares, or Deadly Nadders.

There didn't seem to be any dragons lounging about the docks at all, making Toothless and Stormfly stand out more than a little as they padded up onto the shoreline. This wasn't all too uncommon — very few dragons seemed to enjoy staying too close to the water on Berk, as the spray or sudden waves would sweep up and soak their heads, rendering their fire useless, and leaving them sneezing for hours after, much to any nearby Vikings' annoyance. Still, he took note of it, as the few fisherman returning from the day's sail stared at them from their ships in awe, eyeing their saddles and Toothless's intricate tail mechanism with raised brows.

Syl tried to hide a shiver as they continued up the hill into the main village. Hiccup had to smirk as he thought back to her midnight visit only a few days before, and her impassive claim that she 'didn't feel the cold.' Similar to Astrid in that sense, though she may have tried her best to convince others of the fact, she wasn't invincible…

His smile fell as his eyes moved down at Toothless, observing his slower-than-usual pace, and almost unbalanced footfalls.

… _No one is._ He looked away.

If Toothless could speak — which he technically could, now — he knew he would just tell him it was the long flight, that he needed to lie down, or more likely, have some fish for dinner, if he admitted his weariness at all. Still, they both knew the truth — Astrid wasn't the only one with a newfound plight, nor a secret one. Toothless hadn't seemed to have had any 'attacks' lately, but he doubted they had stopped; he had grown even more distant and sensitive of late, and Hiccup had glanced what appeared to be scars lining his head in the past few days, though the dragon flinched away whenever he tried to get a closer look. If he was still having them... He was hiding them, and well. _Maybe too well for his own good,_ Hiccup thought, reluctantly tearing his eyes off the dragon. They would eventually need to talk about this, he knew… But not just then. There was something in the air, that gave him the feeling all of his attention would be needed that day, that there was something about this island that would set it apart from the rest. He had no idea what that may have been; apart from the mist and perpetually cloudy skies, there was nothing notably different from the others, even if it was a bit smaller than most. Yet still...

Since they'd landed on the island, Hiccup had felt something _off_ about it, and he could tell Syl felt it, too. The island was strange enough to begin with, sure — the thick layer of fog perpetually surrounding it could almost be other-worldly, but compared to the weather patterns on the rest of the archipelago, it was a clear and sunny day. But it only took their walking into the village to realize it.

There wasn't just a lack of dragons — there were _none at all._ The town as a whole was quiet — much quieter than Berk had ever been, even in the peaceful days before the raids had ended. The bustling livelihood simply wasn't there, and only a few Vikings silently carried out their daily tasks around their homes, a few glancing up to stare as the fisherman had on the peer. It wasn't creepy or unnerving, although Hiccup knew it should have been. Just… Calm.

Syl seemed to notice, as well, and punched him lightly in the arm as they walked up the road. "This… This is weird, right? I thought the letters said they had been 'very successful,' with your whole dragon-training scheme."

Something in the back of his mind told him this meant she _had_ been listening on the flight over, at least, though he was too distracted to notice.

"Yeah… They did," he nodded, still looking around at the odd village. His eyes traced the hills on either side of the valley, which eventually disappeared into the fog, as well.

 _No caves or hollows for dragons, either,_ he thought. There could always be some in the clouds, though most dragons tended to prefer having as much of a view of their surroundings from their homes as they could, he had learned. It was one of the main reasons he had built the sliding door in his house for Toothless, aside from ease of entrance.

Glancing around, neither of them had noticed two dots that had materialized on the other side of town, each of which were rapidly drawing closer to them, until Toothless let loose a low growl. Spinning back around, Syl's hand was already halfway to her axe as she positioned herself in a poor mimic of Astrid's initial fighting stance. Stormfly's wings flared out around all of them, protectively.

Hiccup smiled, however, and once Toothless had taken a whiff of the air, he relaxed, as well. Stormfly and Syl eyed the two of them like they were crazy, but slowly lowered their weapons and wings, as well.

As they got closer, the two shapes became a boy and girl, about their age, if not a little older. He was wearing a strange mismatch of armor and fine clothes, with shaggy blond-brown hair and a tall build. His weathered face and soft eyes held a welcome exuberance in the dreary, emotionless town. The girl, a bit shorter, in commoner's clothes, with brown hair so dark it looked almost black, seemed happy, but reluctantly so. As soon as he made eye contact with her, she looked away.

"This," he gestured to Syl as they reached them, each panting heavily and "Is Langley, and—" It was then that he noticed another detail about the two that he had somehow missed, before; the two were holding hands.

"... Iona," he finished, swallowing hard. Langley was still grinning at the two of them, and Iona brushed a strand of hair from her face as he shook his hand.

"I don't believe we've met before. Who would you be, exactly?" Langley held a hand out to Syl. "Hiccup's—?"

"Astrid," Syl finished, returning the smile coldly and taking it. "Friend, acquaintance, whatever. But I don't belong to anyone _._ "

Toothless, for whatever reason, chose that moment to give a low, almost bemused purr, and Hiccup thought he saw her free hand clench into a fist for a moment, before dropping.

"Ah," he said, his smile dropping a little, but still as strong as ever. All of them somewhat eager to be rid of the awkwardness, Langley was the first, moving over to kneel down and meet Toothless at eye level.

"Hey, bud," he said, ruffling his ears a bit, much to the dragon's delight. "How ya' been? Keeping Hiccup safe?" Toothless cooed, and Langley chuckled, moving his hand down to rub under his chin. Stormfly, more than a little envious, walked up to Iona, who luckily got the message and began petting her nose, a small smile forming on her lips.

"Langley is the nephew of the Chief," Hiccup whispered to Syl, as the dragons each revelled in the attention. "Iona's mother is the Head of Trade, I think. Anyway, their families are probably two of the most important on this island, and they were just friends last time we were here, but…"

"Don't worry about whispering, Hiccup," Syl replied, nodding at them. "I doubt either of them could hear us yelling, anyway."

She had a point. The way they looked at each other, as though nothing else in the world existed, and seemed reluctant to be more than a foot away from one another at any time... Hiccup smiled to himself. It was the sort of thing that would make Astrid want to puke.

"Come on," Langley said, smile even brighter than before as he stood back up. "I'll take you to my Uncle."

The village was much wider than it was long. The hills in the rear of the valley were untouched, and a waterfall cut clear through them like a knife, creating a small river — more of a stream, really — that ran straight through the town, splitting it in two, until it dumped into the bay.

"You just missed them," Langley said, as they walked across a bridge spanning the river. "Iona's Terror was here only a few hours ago."

"Wait, you don't even have names for them, yet?" Hiccup asked, taking yet another glance around the dragon-less village. "And what do you mean, 'we missed them'? Aren't they around here, somewhere?"

For the first time since they'd been there, Langley's smile dropped.

"Well… We haven't really been with them or seen them enough to _justify_ giving them names, because—"

"They don't stay." Both Syl and Hiccup jumped as Iona, who had been almost completely silent since they landed, interrupted him, with what sounded almost like contempt seeping from her words.

Langley frowned, and Hiccup was about to ask more, until his expression brightened again, and he jabbed a finger out in front of them. "We're here."

Due to the shape of the island, as well as the lack of the resources, the Clouded Valley Tribe did not have a stone-built Great Hall. Instead, a Longhouse had been constructed at the Northernmost point, with the retaining hill at its back, as was the smartest defensive position, and easily accessible by most of the town.

While it may not have rivaled Berk's Great Hall in all its sheer immensity, it was an impressively large building nonetheless; four stories high, and about as wide as three Nightmares' wingspans, it was easily one of the largest wooden structures Hiccup had ever seen. Two torches were blazing on either side of the front door, despite the humid blanket that laid over the town.

Toothless purred as they opened the doors, and made a sudden, mad dash to run inside ahead of them, with Stormfly making to follow him. Langley's and Hiccup's simultaneous yell at the last moment was the only thing that stopped him.

"No! No," Langley relaxed as Toothless paused and turned back to him, paw raised in the air. Stormfly nearly ran into him, but recovered just in time.

"They can't go inside," he continued, glancing at the girl beside him first. "Iona and would be fine with it, but… There are some people in here that haven't exactly been… _Persuaded_ one way or another on dragons, yet."

Syl and Hiccup shot a glance at one another.

"Well, that's fine, we can't have dragons in our Great Hall, either," Hiccup waved a hand. "But in the letters, you said—"

"I know what we said, and I promise, everything will be answered once we're inside, but for the moment…" He gestured at the two dragons.

With a frown, Hiccup bent down to look at Toothless. "Sorry, bud… You've gotta stay out here for a little while, okay? I'll be fine." The dragon grumbled, but laid down just next to the door, keeping an eye on him throughout. A quick glance over revealed that Syl was doing the same with Stormfly, though to a less-cordial degree.

The inside of the Keep was darker than out, but it held a warmth which made Hiccup truly realize how cold it was outside. Syl must have noticed this too, as she shuffled over to the nearest sconce to rub her hands together once the door had closed behind them.

A doorway out of the entry hall led into a large, almost cavernous room, with a few chairs scattered about, but most noticeably, a table near the back with five stone seats and one larger, raised throne, easily recognizable as the Chief's Meeting Room, and probably the main meeting place for the whole town, as well.

The seats themselves, however, were empty, along with the rest of the room. Langley and Iona hurried through it, leading them to a small side chamber, one of the two major wings of the building, contributing to its width.

Contrary to the dark, large and empty hall they had left, the side room was crowded with Vikings, most of them positioned around a table he couldn't see. Hiccup was able to count six heads before Langley spoke up.

"Father, Uncle, members of the Council," he boomed, making a few of them flinch, and move to the other side of the table to see. "You remember Hiccup."

All eyes in the room turned to him, with a few nods and grunts. It took Hiccup a moment to realize they expected an introduction from himself, anyway.

"Oh! I'm, uh… Hiccup Haddock. My Dad's Stoick… the, uh, Vast — from Berk. We came here a few months ago to talk about… Dragons?"

"We remember you, Hiccup," one of the burlier Vikings said, emotionless. _The Chief,_ something registered in his mind, as he tried to recall his name.

"Aye," spat another short, beardless man, dressed in gray robes. "We do."

Glancing down, if only to distract himself from the many eyes boring into him, Hiccup got his first look at what had captured their interest — and still seemed to — since they had stepped into the room. A giant map of the whole Archipellago was sprawled over the table, paper curling over the edges and underneath the wood. Small, carved statuettes marked some spots around a particular island, some in the shapes of small boats, while others were "X"s, each scattered about in a seemingly random pattern, surrounding the island. He could recognize Berk far to the East, though no markers came close to the island, nor any of its neighbors.

"We got your letter a few days ago," the Chief continued, ignoring the man in robes. "Though we must admit, it was rather vague in its intentions. So, Hiccup. You have our attention — Why are you here?"

He swallowed. This was certainly a step away from the norm; he had fully expected them to be sitting in their chairs in the Council room, hear what he had to say, then make a decision there so he could go back to Berk and continue doing research for Astrid. It was how it had gone for the past few weeks, at least. Still, if he had his audience…

"I, Hiccup Haddock, Heir to the Isle of Berk," he started, rolling out a copy of the scroll which he had practiced reciting time and time again, by then. "Have been sent as a representative of our Chief, and my father, Stoick the Vast, to speak with you. In a time we had hoped would bring peace to the Archipelago, it has come to our attention that several tribes may be preparing for an assault on Berk. As an old ally and friend of Berk's in both trade and commerce, we would ask for your allegiance to our cause, should the day ever come when we must call upon you for aid."

He paused, as a wave of muttering broke throughout the group, voices and whispers filling the small, gloomy space. The Chief, in particular, glanced back at him several times, as did a wiry old man who had kept close to the man in gray robes since they had stepped in, a deep scowl emphasizing the wrinkles on his face.

Taking a shaky breath once they had quieted down some, Hiccup continued,

"This is what Berk asks of you. Should you refuse this request—"

"We understand, Hiccup," the Chief — Chief Halvar, he suddenly remembered — interrupted him. "You've said your part, now. Unfortunately, we're rather busy, at the moment. So if you would give us some time…" It wasn't a question. Hiccup's mouth opened and closed, and Chief Halvar began to turn back to the table along with a few of the others, until a voice spoke out from behind him.

"If I could be so bold — which I will be," Syl stepped forward. "We received a letter from you a few months ago, stating that you'd seen great success with, uh, training dragons, after Hiccup came here. So… What happened? If the Veiklaðar Tribe defeats Berk, they'll come here, next. And you don't exactly have the forces to defend against them, crippled or not. Believe me — I know. So... Don't you want to defend your dragons, or your people, at least? Because that won't be accomplished by just staying here. Not ever."

"And who would you be?" Iona's mother asked, though her tone seemed more curious than threatening.

"My name's Astrid," Syl took another step forward, if a bit more hesitantly. "I'm with Hiccup."

"Uh, Astrid, it's okay, really—" Hiccup started, shooting her a look. But the Chief held up a hand, and he froze.

"No… She makes a valid point," He said, stroking his beard. "It is not our custom to so rudely dismiss our guests, not in this tribe, and not without at least letting them know why, first."

"Chief," the gray-robed man spoke up nervously, "I do not believe it would be in our best interests to reveal our current struggles and actions—"

"And when was the last time ye' agreed with anything anyone else had to say, ye' old worm?" Demanded Langley's father, from across the table. The room quickly churned up into argument as others took the opportunity, and Hiccup leaned closer to Syl.

"Uh… thanks for... helping me out, back there," he whispered.

She shrugged. "Whatever. I just want to get this all over with. Something's wrong, here, on this whole rock. It's like everyone's just... _Waiting,_ for something to happen. I can feel it."

He decided she was right, though didn't tell her that. With whatever the council hadn't told them, paired with the odd serenity and calm over the island, it didn't seem as peaceful as it had when they landed. Half the town was tense, on edge. Perhaps it was due to their arrival? Even so, he hadn't remembered the town being this way when he had come with his father.

The Chief's patience was obviously wearing thin as the arguments escalated, and he slammed his hands down on the table, making one of the small, crudely carved ships capsize onto the map.

"Enough of this!" He yelled. "I don't believe _two children_ are plotting against us, nor that this information will give them or Berk and leverage over our problems. Though I _am_ starting to believe these two and ours aren't the only children in this room!"

That shut everyone up. A few shuffled back, as he shot each of them with a stare that could make even the bravest Viking quake.

"Before we explain, I believe an introduction is necessary, especially considering your new… friend," the Chief grumbled with a glance at Syl, before gesturing down to the end of the table.

"My Brother and first-hand, Haldor," the stocky man Hiccup had recognized as Langley's father nodded.

"Our Head of Defense, Geir, and Head of Trade, Thyra," A taller man with a dark beard and a helm tightly fastened on his head nodded. Iona's Mother bowed, smiling slyly at them.

"And finally, our Heads of Currency and Foreign Matters, Fiske and Egil."

The gray-robed man turned his nose up with a "hmph," while the man beside him remained silent.

"Alas, these titles are just that — titles, and nothing more. We have each been forced to take up the mantles of leadership in these times. The village needs a sense of organization amidst all this madness…"

"Madness…?" Syl spoke out again, shooting a glance back at Langley and Iona, neither of which had spoken since introducing them when they first walked in. Hiccup noticed something else he hadn't before, as well; a sword was strapped around Langley's belt.

"You _did_ say you'd had success with dragon training," Hiccup said slowly. "And the last time I was here…"

"Aye, Langley and Iona do quite well with them — a Nadder and a Terror, if I recall correctly — as have the other children here, as well as a few of us," he gestured around the room, pausing to frown at the two to his left. Fiske bristled, but didn't meet his eyes. "Though we're older, and more for tradition, as it stands.

"Nonetheless, I believe we can _all_ agree that we've benefitted from the end of the raids, and are happy ye' came to teach us to change, or at the very least, show us how we _could._ But as to yer' training and bonding with them—"

"They're a nuisance!" Fiske suddenly squeaked, shrinking a bit at the Chief's glare, but continuing anyway. "The few that still arrive unexpectedly take whatever they can from us and _leave._ In my eyes, the raids never stopped — it's only _we_ who are choosing to let them get away with it, and I believe it's time we all—"

"All _shut up_ for a moment," Geir finished for him, with a growl, "and let our _Chief_ speak."

Chief Halvar sighed and looked around, obviously wary of letting the situation getting out of hand, again. Hiccup frowned. He hadn't remembered the Chief, nor any of the townsfolk being this way the last time they were here. Most had been happy to sit, watch and listen, the Chief and families curious and eager to see the skinny boy from Berk 'make' a Night Fury docile. In truth, Toothless and he had practiced the whole bit many times over before they began the voyages and in between, until it had become a bit of a performance for each of them, laughing and teasing each other as they exaggerated their expressions and movements in their rehearsals.

"The truth is Hiccup, Astrid," his shoulders fell, the room seemingly darkening as he did. "We can barely keep our own people alive on this island. Our food supplies are limited at best, at worst… Devastatingly low. The dragons come from time to time to visit, mainly those the children have grown attached to. But they can't stay for long, and I can't blame them. It seems as though the fogs that once brought security for so many now bring only misfortune, here. The dragons know that, too, and so they leave. Perhaps they're smarter than we are."

"But…" Hiccup's brows furrowed. "You're one of the most prosperous tribes in the archipelago, in fishing at _least_. What—?" Hiccup cut off quickly, realizing he was starting to let his tongue run loose.

"What happened?" The Chief snorted bitterly. "That's what we're trying to figure out, just now."

He gestured down at the map, and pointed at the "X"s, which Hiccup realized only then far outnumbered the ships. His heart sunk down to his stomach as he counted them out, suddenly seeing the lines etched onto not only the Chief's, but all the council members' faces once he looked back up. In fact, smiles absent, even Langley and Iona appeared to have aged years in the few months since they had last met. And all of them were thin. Too thin.

"It started simple," He began, his tone somehow becoming even graver than before. "A ship went missing. Here," —he pointed to an "X" on the map, which Hiccup figured was at least a few dozen miles out to sea, directly south of the island— "was where they split off from the other fishing boats that morning. The last place they were spotted. We never found that ship. We mourned the loss when the last of the search parties came up with nothing… little did we know…

"Another went missing, just two weeks later. This time, we found the ship, charred and burnt, barely afloat, here," He gestured again to another X, this time far Southwest of the island, away from many of the others.

"And The bodies…" He sighed. "Aye, our first thought was dragons. Ye' can't blame us, Hiccup. If you'd seen what we saw on that ship…" He shook his head again. "Anyway, that was when the trouble started. We recalled the boats, had them move closer to shore. Still, they went missing, one after the other. Rarely found, and if they were, torched. We suffered three more of these… Until someone caught sight of one of these 'dragon attacks,' and survived to tell about it.

"It was a massacre," The Chief cursed. "But the foes did not come by air. No, they were of our own kind, assuming the man who saw speaks the truth. Ambushes, by bandits or Vikings of an unknown tribe, we still aren't sure. Since we heard the man's report, however, they've made their intentions clear. We move fishing spots, and they find them, somehow. Scouts report nothing for miles around, mere hours before our ships are set upon…"

"We may be Vikings, Hiccup," Thyra cut in, after it was clear the Chief had faded into his own contemplative silence. "But we're a peaceful tribe, at heart. The raids weren't as bad for us in the war, as you'll remember. Not like Berk, or the Stone Spears or the Veiklaðars or any of the others had it. But we're only just holding our own out here, what with the end of the season coming up. We have our own village to take care of, remember, and winter will be here soon. If these raids don't stop…"

Fury seemed to replace the Chief's previous confusion as he slammed his fists down onto the table, heightening the tension already hanging over the room. "It makes no sense! Empty fishing vessels and rafts, nothing worth looting or attacking, with few people aboard. Either these Vikings are mad, or they have some purpose we're not seeing! _Someone_ must be controlling them out there, paying them, or else wise to do these things. Not to mention the low catches we've been getting for the past few months… Perhaps they're stealing our fish, as well…"

He shook his head, and blinked, as if suddenly realizing he wasn't alone with his thoughts. "The point is, Hiccup, a war is simply not practical for us right now. It's not possible, in fact — not when we're fighting one of our own."

"I just hoped that…" Hiccup frowned again. "Why didn't you send for help? We're one of your oldest allies. My father would want to help you—"

"Aye," he nodded. "But these attacks have only begun of late. And as you can imagine, it's been hard to get anything in or out of the island for weeks, making trade near impossible, never mind letters. We're trapped here on our own island, it would seem. I'd recommend you get out of here on your dragons as soon as you can."

"And besides," Langley suddenly spoke up from behind him, managing a smile in the gloominess of the room. "As I once heard a certain someone say, we're Vikings. We have 'stubbornness issues.'"

Hiccup offered a half-smirk back, but it fell as soon as he looked at Syl. Her mouth was slightly agape, brows furrowed in an expression that could be placed somewhere between annoyed and outraged.

"You really don't see it?" She asked, glancing around to each of them. They each stared at her, and she shook her head in disbelief. "You have a rat."

Thyra leaned forward. "That's a very serious accusation to be making, young lady."

"It's hard _not_ to," she shot back. "It doesn't add up to you either, does it? Ships going missing, then ambushes and bandit raids when you don't expect them. After you move, they can still find you — impressive, in the mist that hangs around here. A little _too_ impressive, I think. You've lived here for generations, haven't you? You would know this area better than anyone, then. It should take months for them to even catch sight of a rock."

There were a few murmurs of agreement from one side of the table. The Chief only stared, his brow furrowing even further down towards his nose.

"But somehow, they're able to pinpoint your exact locations before you can even react, no matter where you move. They're always one step ahead of you. Not only that, but they _only_ kept them secret until there was a witness, meaning someone must have known there even _was_ a witness. And that's strange, too — it's like they were trying to keep them a secret, before… Or frame something else. Doesn't that seem more than a little suspicious for some 'wild bandit raids'?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Hiccup noticed Iona and Langley's hands clasped firmly together, as they stood side-by-side and watched on in disbelief. He couldn't blame them — Syl only seemed to know how to raise tensions in a situation, in his experience, and she was proving that now, for better or worse.

Most of the council members glared down at her, now. He had to admit, she had a knack for it — much better than he had ever been, at least.

Most of her valor and bravery beginning to fail her as common sense took over again, she finished, "It… It would have to be someone who knew your plans, your fishing locations, the experience of your men… Would have to be somebody in…"

 _Somebody in this room._ Syl left the question open, however, choosing wisely to clear her throat and step back into the shadows. Langley and Iona stared at Syl, as did Hiccup, expressions equal parts horror and wonder at just what had come over her to suggest that.

The entire room was silent for a moment. Nobody moved, nor made a sound. The torches flickered, and for a second it seemed as though time might have stayed still in that moment forever, each waiting for the delicate tranquility to _snap,_ none wanting to be the one to do it _._

Then Haldor moved his eyes ever-so-slightly in Fiske's direction. The gesture did not go unnoticed.

 _SNAP,_ Hiccup thought with a wince.

Fiske bolted up, chair crashing down behind him. "Me?! What madness has overtaken you? A young girl no one has ever met comes rushing in here, throwing wild claims about, and you betray me at your first opportunity? With all that I've done for this tribe—"

"I never so much as spoke your name, Fiske," Haldor growled. "I must say, you seemed awfully quick to deny it, though! Anyway, it could very well be anyone in this room."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Geir growled, standing up himself. The room exploded into argument once again, loud and angry shouts filling the room, making it seem as though there were twice the people present.

Hiccup and Syl took the opportunity to shuffle back from the crowd, to Langley and Iona.

"You know… You've got a lot of guts," The young man told Syl as they whispered to one another. By that point, they could probably yell at each other and it would be ignored, with all the noise, threats and nigh-on brawling coming from the table.

"Sure," she replied. "All their squabbling was starting to get on my nerves, anyway."

"I'm not sure this has helped," he said, nodding at the table. "We never used to have meetings like this… Or meetings at all. Not this often, anyway, and never this… Violent. Do you have meetings like this on Berk a lot, Hiccup?"

But he wasn't paying attention. Something else had caught his eye, in the room, something he had somehow managed to miss.

"There were… _ten_ people in this room, right?" He asked, doing a recount as he swiveled on his heel. Syl followed his gaze, and nodded.

"I… Think so," Langley said. "But I'm not—"

All four of them froze as a low tremor suddenly ran through the room, under their feet. They stared at each other, the same question etched across each of their faces. Iona was the first to speak it, after a moment had passed.

"Did you feel that?" The other three nodded. The bickering of the council members continued on behind them, oblivious. Someone slammed a fist on the table.

Another low rumble shook the floor beneath their feet. This time, the Chief seemed to take notice, and paused to stare at the four children, suspicious. Still, the arguments continued.

But yet again, there came a low rumble, this time twice as rough as each time before it. Hiccup nearly fell over, before Langley caught his hand. The Chief stood up.

"Everyone _QUIET!"_ He yelled. "Listen!"

One by one, the council members fell silent, as yet another tremor shook the foundations of the building, then another. The second time, however, it was followed by a loud bang from the main hall. Hiccup was out the doorway before anyone could protest.

As he suspected, the door was the source of the last noise, and had undergone a bit of remodelling since they had come in. It bent inward as it was bashed against again, but the lock still held. He heard Toothless screech angrily from outside, and grimaced.

Before he was able to break it down, however, Syl walked up and flipped up the latch, opening the door. Toothless nearly fell over himself trying to get in, and Syl stepped away just in time. The dragon's eyes softened when he saw Hiccup — but only a little.

"Toothless… Bud, what's—!" Something from outside caught his eye, as the cool air seeped in through the door — a bright speck hurling across the village, like the sun had been hoisted out of the sky and thrown across the river, before another rumble shook the ground beneath them. Toothless growled and fanned his wings.

"An attack," Syl said, following its arc as far as she could.

"That's impossible!" Fiske's squeaked from behind them. "This village is impenetrable. Only fools would attack it, madmen!"

Hiccup felt obligated to agree — they had nearly gotten lost in the fog a few times before they walked in, and that was from Toothless's back in the air. To even find the island by sea had to be impossible without guidance — even the last time he had been there, a scout had been a few miles out from the island to guide them in, and avoid the various rocks and jetties on the island. The whole place was as bad as Helheim's Gate, if not even worse.

"We can't jump to conclusions," Hiccup told both her and the other council members, as they filed in worriedly through the doorway. "With that said… I think we need to find out."

As he and Syl stepped outside, he heard Fiske say in almost a whisper, "Has anyone seen Egil?"

Before anyone could reply, however, the next rumble shook the ground, and Toothless and Stormfly took off before they could be thrown off balance, riders on their backs.

"Attack or not, this place isn't safe!" Syl yelled to him over the wind as they rose above the village. Hiccup took a moment to survey the island from the air — though they couldn't rise too far, thanks to the fog and low clouds — only to grow even more confused. Though no battle appeared to be taking place, several houses were set aflame, large holes in their roofs. Vikings were shouting and children screaming, forming hasty, unpracticed bucket lines, to no avail; most of the water had spilled by the time it reached the houses. True pandemonium hadn't quite swept over the village, not yet. But the silent, strange tranquility of the island had been broken, and madness was only a hair's breadth away. He had felt it before, and he could feel it, then.

Syl seemed to have been lost in her thoughts, as well, but wasn't alert enough to notice yet another large, bright mass soaring over the village. This time, at least, Hiccup got a clear view of what it was — a fireball flew through the air in an arc, spanning most of the village before falling into the unfortunate home or building in its path. It appeared to be coming from the direction of the bay, though it was hard to tell. And, of course, the only reason he could see it so closely was because—

"Stormfly!" He yelled. Toothless managed to spin out of the way a few seconds before it struck, but the Nadder appeared to be just as absent as her rider, and was barely able to dodge it as they flew past. The fireball easily would have left a burn if her scales weren't already fireproof.

Syl recovered and shook her head, while Hiccup grimaced down at the soon-to-be-maelstrom below, and pointed down at the docks. Syl nodded.

The yells of Vikings and howls of children became clearer as they reached the ground, their homes crumbling to ashes behind them. The docks were as empty as they had been before, empty boats and ships the only presence. Two were aflame, though nobody worked to put them out — the homes and safety of their families was far more important, regardless of what it meant for their livelihoods or source of food and so Hiccup, Syl and the dragons watched on as they each sunk the few feet into sea, water flooding the top decks and travelling a few feet up the mast, until they settled onto the ocean floor, fires quenched.

Over the ensuing flames and menacing _WHOOSH_ of fireballs suddenly flying out of the now-treacherous fog, he heard something else. A deep, steady booming, a strange and ominous contrast to the seemingly random pauses between projectiles hurtling out of the fog, came from somewhere out in the bay, blocked by the mist. Faint, but discernible — and getting closer.

Langley and Iona arrived a few moments after they had dismounted, each with empty buckets in their hands. Hiccup didn't stop to think about how they had gotten to the docks so quickly — he was just glad they were there.

"What is it? What's going on?" Langley asked. His smile had long since disappeared, and his tone was now that of a Viking Chief in a crisis — cold and alert. It reminded him of why he was there in the first place, something he had all but forgotten once the Chief tried to explain what had happened to them.

"We're not sure…" He admitted, realizing that flying ahead and putting themselves and their dragons at risk had been completely in vain. "But if you listen, you can hear—"

"Look, listen," Iona said, pointing and surprising them all once again.

"What? What is it?" He asked, following her finger into the sky, and seeing nothing. "I don't see anything."

"Exactly," she said, facing them all with stormy, blue eyes. "It's quiet. They've stopped."

She was right. The fireballs had stopped, as well as the drumming. The only sounds were of the roaring fires behind them and Vikings' shouting that followed. Still… Each of their eyes was pasted on the bay. Langley drew his sword, Iona a small dagger from her hip. Syl glanced at her with a grimace, obviously wishing she had her own, before drawing Astrid's axe and stepping into the same inaccurate battle stance as before. Frowning, Hiccup stepped back toward Toothless, who bared his teeth at the crashing waves.

For a few seconds, the silence was suffocating. What followed was something out of a nightmare.

Dragons' heads emerged from the mist, at the prows of ships — but they were all wrong. Red paint — he hoped — had been smeared across the heads, the ornately carved eyes, teeth, noses and other details destroyed and ravaged, torn apart. The masts followed, drifting out of the fog like rotting trees pushed forward by ghosts. They increased in number as they approached, two, then three, then half a dozen, then a dozen, until they filled the relatively small cove from one end to another. Several had trebuchets mounted on their decks, the source of the fireballs. Then they began firing again.

"Hiccup," Syl said, in almost a whisper. "We need to—"

"Go back to the Chief," he finished, glancing at Iona and Langley, each of which still had their eyes glued on the ships, horror etched across their faces. This seemed to break them out of their trance, and they each turned to him.

"Help your Village," Syl ordered. "Get them armed, and ready. I don't care how peaceful this island is. You're _Vikings._ And for the time being, you have an advantage on the shores. The first line of defense will be on the docks. That's where they'll have to land."

"No, no," Hiccup said, before they could run off. "It may not have to be that way — we don't know what they want, yet."

Syl narrowed her eyes at him. "Get. Them. Ready."

Hiccup had to admit, he had been impressed by her sudden burst of authority, until he remembered her recent lessons with his father. And as the two natives ran off into the village, her eyes betrayed the truth; she was afraid. Terrified.

"We need to get out of here, Hiccup. We don't stand a chance against them, here." "And neither do they, if we don't help them!" He shot back.

"Those," she pointed out into the harbor. "Are my _mother's ships._ "

There was a moment of silence, until he followed her stare, eyes running over the mangled figureheads, seeing them in an entirely new light. "You're _sure—_ "

"The decorations are new, I'll admit," she cut him off. "But the patched-up sails? Rebuilt masts? I'd recognize those anywhere. Not to mention their cowardice… We need to get out of here."

"No!" He said, steadfast. "With no dragons on their side, they're practically defenseless. And this could still be resolved peacefully if—"

A hail of arrows rained down from above, falling onto the docks just short of their position. The two stepped back as Toothless snarled, and Stormfly raised her tail.

"We need to get further inland, at least. We need to— Hiccup!" Syl's eyes widened as he climbed on Toothless's back, and he leapt into the air. Grudgingly, she followed after him, Stormfly more than happy to leave the docks, herself.

He led her back to the Longhouse, where all of the council members — except Egil, of course — were close by. Some rushed around with their families and fellow Vikings, yelling and passing buckets, handing out axes and swords to deal with a threat they hadn't even seen, yet. A few others, like Fiske, simply stared at the carnage around them in disbelief, mouths hanging open. The Chief stood in the center of it all, a strange combination of the two, helping where he could and growling at nothing in particular. But when he thought no one was looking, he would glance at the burning buildings around him and shake his head.

By some miracle, the Longhouse hadn't caught fire. Most of the shots had struck closer to the bay, he realized — their range must not have reached that far inland, not while they were still at sea. It was one of the reasons it had been built that far back into the valley, Hiccup knew, though he doubted they ever thought it would be necessary.

Toothless swept down in front of the Chief, followed shortly by the Nadder, with a very anxious-looking Syl on her back. If Halvar was relieved at all to see them, though, he didn't show it.

"An ambush," Syl snarled. "My m—Veiklaðars, the cowards. They've got 10 ships, maybe more, with catapults mounted on at least half. Not sure how many men, they were still too far out to tell. It seems as though you've figured out who your rat is as well?"

"Aye," he replied. "It seems we have. A few have said Egil's made some strange disappearances lately, and he hasn't been the most supportive in our tribe, not since the war ended... Though Fiske says otherwise. It _is_ hard to believe, that he would starve and kill our people — _his_ people — just to…" The Chief trailed off, before straightening himself. "But that's not important right now, and he's gone off to Odin-knows-where. What did you see?"

"They'll make landfall in minutes, if not less," Hiccup said, before continuing with some hesitation. "There… May still be a peaceful way out of this, without any bloodshed. Or… Any more, that is. We don't know what they want yet—"

The Chief cut him off with a snort. "I once told your father you could've been raised here for all your kindness, Hiccup… But I'm afraid it's too late for that. Just as it's too late to try and reason with them."

He stood tall. "They've made their intentions clear. They intend to make an example of us, here. To send a message to _you_. This was planned — by Egil, assuming he is your rat, girl. If we live through this, he'll stand trial for treason. Until then… Hiccup, Astrid," he nodded at the two of them, before calling for the council members still in earshot. Every second counted, so he filled them in quickly.

"They want to make an example of us," he finished, his voice turning into a yell for all around to hear. "I say we make an example of them! Show 'em what happens when you try to take down our tribe!"

With a few battle cries and shouts of agreement, they each ran off ahead of the Chief, either to round up the villagers to meet the tribe on the docks, or defend their own families. Fiske slunk away back into the longhouse, a mix of confusion and conflicted hatred on his face. He probably _wished_ he had been a spy for the Veiklaðar just then — if Egil was their rat, he had probably negotiated safe passage off the island during the attack, or was elsewise hidden.

"They've made their choice, as have we. Dragons or no, it's obvious they're willing to take this beyond that," The Chief said, drawing an axe he must have retrieved while they were at the docks.

Hiccup's shoulders fell, but he mustered the rest of his strength to his words. "Fine… We can help, then. They may have numbers, but two dragons and their riders could—"

"No." Chief Halvar said, narrowing his eyes into a stony glare Hiccup was starting to think every Village Chief possessed. "You see that ridge?"

He pointed to the steep hill that lay just beyond the longhouse, forming the back wall of the valley. Hiccup nodded.

"Fly over it, and keep going straight. You'll be out of the mist in a few minute's time, as long as you _keep_ _straight._ Turn East, that will take you back to Berk." He paused to rest a hand on his shoulder. "Tell them what happened here, Hiccup. Tell your father what happened. If any of us are left alive at the end of this... We'll be at his side when the day comes."

"N-no," he said, his resolve beginning to crumble. It was too late — The Chief was running into the Village after the rest of them, axe above his head and calling warriors and craftsmen alike out of their homes, to his side.

The village burned around them. At least half of the homes were aflame by that point, he figured. Children wailed, and some parents ran past them out of the smoke — which had long since replaced the fog — to the longhouse, perhaps the only refuge left at that point. It would be boarded up from the inside soon enough, he knew, all those unable to fight left inside to await their fate, learning only of the outcome when the door was burst down several hours or minutes later. Another fireball crashed into a nearby house, just as its inhabitants rushed outside, much further inland than any of the shots from the boats thus far. One had a toddler swaddled in her arms, and nearly ran into Toothless as they made for the longhouse. The mother's eyes widened, seeing only a threat in what even Hiccup had to admit must have appeared as a dark monster — the smoke was so thick, it was hard to see more than twenty feet ahead in each direction, and the whole scene seemed a living nightmare. Toothless only moved aside to let them past, though, and the parents rushed inside, mouthing "thanks" to no one in particular. Hiccup clenched his teeth.

"We need to do something."

"No," Syl said. "Listen to the Chief, Hiccup. We need to go."

"We can't _leave_ them _!"_ He cried. "They're practically defenseless! They were taken by surprise, ambushed! They aren't ready or equipped for a fight, never mind a full-on assault!"

"I know!" She screeched, suddenly sounding so desperate that all of his anger instantly melted away.

"Listen to me, Hiccup," she pointed toward the docks. "Those are my _mother's ships_ out there. Maybe the Chief's right, and they _do_ just want to send a message. But do you _really_ think it's just a _coincidence_ that they chose to attack on the same day the emissary from Berk — their own _heir_ and his _Night Fury_ — arrived to negotiate a treaty with them? That Egil-guy must have tipped them off."

He frowned, but as he opened his mouth, she continued, "My point is, if they _knew_ that you were going to be here, if they _knew_ that you would fight them, then I'm sure they have some _very specific instructions_ on who exactly to target. For all we know, this whole attack could be a diversion. For all we know, _you're_ their primary target."

"You're saying this is a trap?" He challenged. "Maybe it is. But we've gotten out of them before, and if getting caught in it means the people on this island get to live… So be it. Leave if you want. But I can't just let them all die here."

"You don't _get it,"_ she clenched her fists, before shoving a finger in his face. "They will _not_ take prisoners _,_ here _._ Believe me, I should know. This isn't a trap to bring you back. I tried to _kill you_ because they _want you dead._ The man — or men, or women — who take you and Toothless down — and they _will,_ if you go out there — will be celebrated as _heroes_ back home. If I thought it was the only way I could ever hope to impress her…"

She paused. Another fireball touched down, not more than fifty feet away from them. They _would_ need to get out of there, soon. When Hiccup only stared back at her, she continued.

"Do you really want to risk your dragon's life on this, Hiccup? You and Toothless are the head of the snake to them, and the pieces that hold these alliances up to _everyone else_ , whether you like it or not. Your life may be expendable to yourself, but before you go out there… You need to know what it means. Even if you _were_ only captured, think about what it would mean for Berk. What it would mean for _Astrid._ And especially given your dragon's _condition_... You're as unprepared and unequipped for a battle right now as everyone on this island."

One of Toothless's ears flew up, and he shot a glare at Syl. When Hiccup met his eyes, though, he looked away.

"We _need_ to leave," she added after a beat, more quietly than before. Hiccup coughed, as the smoke clogged up the air around them.

"So… Maybe we can't fly," Hiccup admitted. Toothless purred, and stepped up beside him. "Toothless and I, anyway. But we can still bring Vikings water, help where we can. We don't have to be on the front lines. We could—"

Toothless's screech came just too late. Something large exploded in front of them, and both he and Syl were thrown backward, flying several feet through the air before the cocoon of the Night Fury's wings closed in around him.

"Syl _...",_ he managed to croak out as the wind was knocked out of him.

A ringing filled his ears and head, threatening to overpower his senses before it subsided. He knew he must have blacked out, if only for a few seconds, though it was impossible to tell in the sheer darkness surrounding him. As soon as he was able, he began rapping and beating his hands weakly on the inside of Toothless's wings, rasping his name in the almost trancelike state his mind had been thrust into. For a moment he began to fear the dragon had fallen unconscious, as well, but Toothless's wings slowly unfurled just before he became truly frantic, and he saw in his upside-down eyes that the Night Fury was only worried for him. His small moment of relief with the dragon vanished, though, when he looked away.

The fire was bright, and his vision had not yet completely cleared when he stepped out, making the buildings and landscape around him seem to blur together, and loom over him as the fires licked and danced up into the sky. Once he _could_ see, though, his suspicions were confirmed. A fireball had landed nearly on top of them, carving a charred crater into the ground. A few feet more and the two of them would have been dead — in fact, he might have been, had Toothless not dove in when he had.

Syl had not been so fortunate.

Though Stormfly had tried, her body was simply not built for the same _roll-and-cover_ tactic that Toothless could pull off, and so the girl hadn't been as protected as he. She was lying on the ground, limp and motionless as a doll, left hand twisted in a way that definitely didn't look natural. Burns and pockmarks blemished and marked the exposed parts of her skin, a few fresh scars ripped open on her arms, one small gash on the upturned side of her cheek. Stormfly, too, had wounds of her own; incredibly, the dragon's scaly hide had been pierced, and a small trickle of red ran down her leg, and the Nadder alternated between poking the lifeless girl and licking her own scars.

Feeling sick, Hiccup stumbled over to her, legs not protesting as he fell to his knees beside her. He mouthed a silent thanks to the gods as he saw her chest slowly rise and fall, weak and rapid at first, but stabilizing with every breath.

He looked around, but saw no one nearby. The Village still burned, and one way or another, the ground, he decided, was no longer safe.

"Damnit… Come on… Toothless," he said as he tried to lift Syl's body on his own, nearly collapsing under the sudden weight, cutting his palm as a hand slipped and caught on one of the spikes on her skirt. He had suffered a few injuries of his own — a scrape or cut here, a bruise there — but they were little more than paper cuts, and as far as he could tell, he hadn't broken anything, though most of his body ached from the impact against the Night Fury.

The Night Fury quickly rushed to his side, pushing his head under Syl to help prop her up. She groaned, and nearly fell again, but Toothless quickly adjusted, and she stayed.

Stormfly seemed to take note, and folded her wings to assist, as well. Still, the Nadder limped as she walked, leaning most of her weight onto her left foot, and Hiccup heard her hold back a small cry as she bent down into a crouch.

Somehow, the three of them managed to wrestle the girl up onto her back, until she was slumped in Stormfly's saddle, slowly beginning to regain consciousness. It was never a good idea for a rider to be out cold in the air, Hiccup knew — but Stormfly was experienced, and cared for Syl, whether the girl liked it or not. She wouldn't let her fall, and would do everything in her power to protect her from harm, just as she would Astrid.

As soon as Hiccup had thrown himself onto his own saddle, Toothless launched into the air, equally eager to be out of the village himself.

The constant barrage from the ships, as well as the fires from burning houses had managed to clear away much of the mist over the village, though the smoke and ash had replaced it in many places. Though he knew Toothless would be grateful for the added vision, the sight that met him made his stomach fall to his feet.

Chaos had finally erupted.

The ships were making landfall, Vikings jumping to shore as they did, throwing torches on whatever they could burn nearby, spears into barrels of fresh fish stacked carefully near huts. Equally, the small group of Vikings charged forward through the village, weapons raised and war cries echoing off their tongues and through the streets. The Chief was at the head of them all — that was clear. Hiccup thought he could make out a few of the council members behind him, as well, but they were all too close together, and he had already forgotten their names.

Toward the back of the group, however, he could make out two shapes running with the rest of them, so close together, so paired with one another it seemed almost unnatural, like they were one in the same. They were instantly recognizable.

Langley had his sword drawn, he saw. If Iona had a weapon of some kind, though, he couldn't see it. But he doubted either would leave the other behind for something as simple as not being able to fight.

He clenched his teeth down, hard, and only half-heard Toothless give a low purr in front of him as he stopped them all in midair.

"We… We have to do something…" He muttered to himself. _We have to..._

He went to click Toothless tailfin, and was about to instruct him to dive down to the ships, when Syl wheezed, suddenly.

"Hiccup…" She said, and he whipped around to look at her. She set him with a hard stare despite her obvious fatigue. The message was as clear as day. She wasn't going to stop him — she couldn't. But even if she could… She wouldn't.

He sighed, and looked away from the village, just before the two groups clashed.

"Come on, bud," he whispered into the dragon's ear, setting his tailfin for high-altitude flight. "Let's go home."


	24. The Student

**Uh, hey, everyone…**

 **I hope you all enjoyed the rest of August… And all of September… And October… November…** _ **Yeah…**_

 **I had originally planned on writing an elaborate and extensive A/N making excuses for why this chapter took so damn long to write and post, but instead of making you read all of that, I'll sum it up to this; as the story draws closer to its apex — and it** _ **is**_ **drawing closer, by the way — I want to make sure that I'm putting out the best quality of writing I'm capable of providing for you in these chapters, or at least close to it. That means lots of revisions, but also many an hour sitting in bed, staring at my plot outline doc with a deep frown upon my face, nothing being actually** _ **written**_ **anywhere but my mind. And so… Here we are. I'm very, very sorry.**

 **Which brings me to my next point: as we approach the apex of our heroes' journey thus far, I've realized it would be beneficial to have a beta to help me ensure I'm putting out the best product I can for all of you. I've, ah, never really done this before, so for the time being, I can't bring myself to put out an official request anywhere as I'm only considering it, but if you're interested and meet FanFiction's requirements (or, of course, have beta'd before) please PM me, and we can talk about it in a bit more detail. I'd be looking for help both on syntax errors and on grammar, but also on general writing and stylistic choice. I believe a reader's direct perspective will be very important going into these next few chapters, and that's largely why I'm putting this out there.**

 **One more note: I was able to get** _ **one**_ **thing done in that stretch of time, and that was a fairly sizable revision of Chapter 1. And I don't just mean corrections in grammar or general writing; I did both add and remove some plot and character details to make it more in line with what I've since fleshed out and decided on. Nothing very major, but if you're the kind of person who likes to theorize about what's going on, I'd suggest you go check it out. I do also plan on doing the same for some of the other early chapters, though I'll be sure to tell you all once I have.**

 **And that's it! I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and be sure to follow for updates and review!**

 **I don't own How to Train Your Dragon.**

* * *

"An attack on _my son!"_ Stoick roared. "How _dare_ those spineless, damned cowardly, rotten excuses for Vikings…"

Hiccup winced as his father's accusatory rant escalated into real curses. He and Syl had barely made it back the night before, pushing the two dragons to their limits as they raced back to Berk. Syl had drifted in and out of sleep the whole way, still fazed from the explosion, but safe and alive. She seemed understandably confused to wake up several hundred feet in the air on several occasions, but luckily didn't once have a full on panic-attack as Hiccup feared she might.

Stormfly did her best to stay strong, but it was clear she was struggling, too; a steady stream of blood had flowed from her leg for longer than Hiccup would have liked, and though it stopped and swelled after almost an hour of flying, a nasty-looking scar took its place, and his frown only deepened whenever he glanced at it. She had suppressed another cry on landing, and each of them had quickly been rushed off to their respective healers, Syl nearly falling off the Nadder before she was carried down. Hiccup had helped walk her to the nearest Viking's house, who had offered a bed for her to lie down on until the healer got there.

Once he'd left, and both Gobber and the closest on-hand healer had assured him that they would both be alright, he went to find his father. Or, more specifically, his father found him, running down the streets at a speed seemingly impossible for a Viking of his size, a look on his face that made it clear word had already gotten to him of what had happened; Hiccup had explained the situation briefly to the nearest Viking he'd seen as soon as they had landed.

So there they stood, in front of the blacksmith, a small crowd already beginning to form around them as they woke up and stumbled outside to see what was going on. The early morning light was reminiscent of the many awkward conversations he had had with his father just like this one before the war had ended, only this time, he wasn't the one Stoick was mad at. As to whether that was better, or worse…

He slunk back, trying to decide whether anyone would notice or care if he suddenly disappeared inside the shop. "It, uh, wasn't really an attack on me _specifically_ —"

"And an ambush, at that! They don't even have the guts to carry out a true assault," he spat. "Swine! To think what other tricks they're scheming, if they're willing to drop this low..."

Hiccup's mind drifted back to what Syl had said before the explosion, and he winced. _Everyone on her island was willing to kill me and Toothless, just for recognition… And she might've succeeded, herself, if..._

He shook his head.

No. That hadn't been her fault. That hadn't been _her_. She had just been a girl, desperate for her mother's approval, willing to do anything to get it… Even if it meant killing someone — or something — she had never met.

He knew the feeling all too well.

"Kinsmen," Stoick said, addressing the group around him, now so large it almost blocked off the street. "The Veiklaðar tribe sits and waits until we are separated, prone to invasion. They would attack _my own son,_ and _your children_ as well, before facing us like Vikings! They would raid and pillage our allies, the smallest and most vulnerable of them, and call themselves _warriors!_ Heroes! Well, we need to show them what true warriors look like!"

There were a few cheers and shouts, as well as weapons drawn and raised into the air. Most didn't carry weapons around town, though — not anymore, anyway — so swords and axes were replaced with fists, or whatever they happened to have in their hands at the time. He counted two pans, five loaves of bread and three buckets, among an assortment of other strange objects.

Just as Hiccup made to run in the shop, the door swung open beside him.

" _What_ in Odin's name is all this commotion ab—" Gobber stepped out of his house, scratching his head just as Stoick opened his mouth to shout again.

"Ah, Stoick…" He cleared his throat. "Was just hopin' to get some sleep… Not that tha' matters to you, it seems…"

He just then appeared to notice then the crowd around them... as well as Hiccup, slowly trying to shuffle backward into the forge.

"Hiccup!" He started, hobbling toward him, simultaneously reminding everyone that he was still there. "How's Stormfly? And Astrid?"

Ah, yes. He could always count on Gobber.

"They're… Fine," He said, holding back a sigh. "I think her healer said she wanted to find someone 'more advanced,' though as far as I know, it was just a sprained wrist. And Stormfly… Well, I'm not really sure. Did you see anything… Noteworthy, bringing her back?"

He wasn't just trying to deflect the crowd's attention — while he knew some basics about dragon anatomy and healing, Gobber had been studying them far longer than he, if under very different circumstances. He was by far one of the most knowledgeable Vikings on the island, and had already saved a few dragons' lives in the short time they'd been living with them. If anyone could help the Nadder…

"Nothing too out of the ordinary," he answered, pausing first to rub his chin. "She took a nasty wound to tha' leg, ya know. It'll heal in some time, though as for flyin'..." He shrugged.

It couldn't be _that_ bad, Hiccup reasoned, if Gobber had already gone back to bed just a few minutes after tending to her. Still, it was early, and since the raids had ended, the two-limbed smith had certainly grown accustomed to his 'beauty sleep.'

"Gobber!" Stoick called to him, interrupting their conversation. "Fetch some charcoal sticks, and lots of paper. As much as you can find in the shop. Get more from the Great Hall if you feel that we'll need it."

"That time then, huh? Sure thing, _O' High Chief,"_ He replied with a snort, before disappearing back into the smithy, muttering to himself.

"Um… More missions, Dad? Is that why you need the...?" Hiccup asked. Needless to say, after last night, he was less than willing to go back out there. If Syl was right about the attack being for him and Toothless… He didn't want to be responsible for any more villages burning to the ground.

"No, Hiccup, no more..." Stoick had started to lower his voice for him, before raising it again at the sight of someone in the crowd Hiccup couldn't see. "Halstein! Have every lite ship ready for travel by noon. Make sure they're manned with the best crew ye' have, as well. Ye' sail tonight!"

There was a hurried "Yes, Chief," before the man took off for the docks. Hiccup began to feel a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"Dad, I…" He swallowed. "We could still go on them, but just more discreetly. They can't _all_ have people working for the Veiklaðar tribe — uh, _rats,_ that is. Maybe if we go at night, or arrive unannounced... They'll be less likely to sign the documents, but—"

"No, Hiccup. No more documents. No more politics," Stoick shook his head. "Ye've done well, son, but they've made their intentions clear by now. And if this is the game they want to play… So be it."

Gobber appeared in the doorway as the Vikings began to disperse, each with a jump in their step, getting the feeling that something big was happening. They were right in that feeling, too. The blacksmith held out the papers to him, and he took half the stack.

"Write to every tribe in the archipelago we know isn't with them. _Every. One._ I don't care what documents they've signed, what they think of dragons or humans or the two of 'em being put together on one big damned island. Call their banners, rally their men, and demand they all sail to Berk immediately, if they wish to uphold their freedom, and lives, too. It's clear now that Brenna's not going to wait for winter to pass. So neither will we."

Gobber raised an eyebrow, and Hiccup tried to shrink down into himself, wishing he weren't there, that he wasn't hearing any of this.

"Peace is no longer an option. We must destroy them, lest they rise up and do the same to us, first. Have it be known to all that would challenge Berk: we're at war with the Veiklaðar Tribe, and any who side with them."

* * *

Syl figured she must have been dreaming again.

A foreign island, her mother attacking, an explosion of white before a deep, enveloping black, eyes opening soon after to see water below her in every direction — it was the kind of thing she had learned to prepare for every night before she fell asleep. She fully expected it to end with her falling in, thrashing and flailing her limbs desperately in the churning waves of the ocean, crying for help that a voice in her head told her would never come, until she woke up in bed, sheets on the floor and soaked in her own sweat, too afraid to fall back asleep.

This nightmare, it would seem, refused to end. Because, aside from several sore spots along her legs and a feeling from her left hand that hurt and itched like nothing else, there was the person standing over her, emanating an aura of pure disdain when she finally built up the courage to open her eyes.

The village witch. Gothi.

She nodded, satisfied, as if she had been waiting for her to wake up, and moved further back into the room, out of her sight. Not _her_ room, nor her house, Syl realized with a start, but not Gothi's hut, either. She tried to sit up, but instead winced and bit back a cry at the sudden pressure on her wrist and ache of her back.

"Where am I?" Syl asked, reluctantly lying back down. There was no response. _Mute._ She remembered, sneering at both the pain and the woman. _Or just too snide to talk to anyone._

She must have been on Berk, at least, if the witch was there. At this realization, for once, she was relieved — though for how long that was to last, she had no clue. With her mother back on her mind, now…

Syl had to admit — she had underestimated her. An attack on Berk was inevitable, and she had heard a little about their plans when they were still fine with her breathing their air, though it was by then no more than Berk already knew about. An attack on the Clouded Valley, however… Dirty tricks had her mother all over it, but to provoke a tribe so neutral and integral to the archipelago was… Insane. Before the raids had ended, they had been one of their island's very few trading partners. And if her mother was confident enough in her abilities to openly attack them… Suddenly Berk didn't seem quite so safe, anymore.

"How long have I been out?" She demanded. The silence between her questions had been broken only by the sound of a spoon stirring in an iron pot somewhere in front of her. Experimentally, she raised her head, propped back against her pillow, her chin resting at the base of her neck. It still hurt, but not as badly, and at least then she could see the room.

It wasn't any house or building she could recognize, though the sound of conversation and the occasional roar or grunt of a dragon from outside told her that she must have been somewhere in the village. At the other end of the hall hunched Gothi, stirring some foul brew in an iron-cast bowl hanging over the firepit. Suspicious, Syl watched her hobble over to a shelf on one side of the room, take a dish of ingredients from it, dump portions of its contents unceremoniously into the brew, and then repeat the process several times over, stirring the mix again between each.

It all seemed too… _Mundane._ Not even an explosion or single puff of smoke, aside from a light trail of steam steadily escaping the pot. Given what she had seen her do before, she reasoned that, regardless of her intentions, this must not have been _too_ dangerous, and Syl relaxed somewhat.

That, was, until she poured it in an empty wooden bowl, walked over to the side of her bed, and tried to raise it to Syl's lips — with emphasis on _tried._

"No!" Syl recoiled, eyes already darting around the room, searching for an escape. Her hands gripped the wood of the bed frame as she instinctively tried to sit up. This only brought more pain to her chest, at least twice as much as before, and she bit back another scream, as well as a curse for the woman in front of her that had been churning in the back of her throat since she had woken up.

Collapsing back down to the bed, trying not to wince, she settled for a disapproving scowl. From the look on Gothi's face, the feeling seemed to be mutual. Still, she pulled the bowl back a bit. Syl didn't notice.

Trapped. Bedridden. She had injured herself before, but even then had been able to take care of herself — or been helped by her brother, generally outside of their parents' knowledge. Kids got into trouble enough on her island, so it wasn't uncommon for them to break or sprain bones, even if few ever received more treatment than a makeshift splint around the broken part for a time. But said kids were usually stocky or at least toned from day-to-day life by the time they reached their teen years, and although her lithe form was proven to have its benefits, it wasn't without its downsides in the Viking world, either. Especially when it came to the incidents after her brother had… had…

She closed her eyes, submitting to the pillow and blankets, the sore but taught muscles telling her to sprint to the door, loosening in relief.

The nightmares had become unpredictable. While they were no longer every night, their seemingly random frequency was somehow even worse; she could go days at a time in a dreamless sleep, before one struck her unprepared, and suddenly. She found herself sitting up in bed each night, anyway, steeling herself for another evening of absolute misery and terror, and would wake up the next morning later than she should've, but still groggy and exhausted, regardless of whether she had even had one that night. She had, at least, been making use of her early-morning awakenings. She did have _plans,_ after all… Of course, there were some nights when it was simply too much for her to do anything but curl up in a ball on the bed and bite back tears…

Whatever senseless god had decided she deserved this she had already cursed to the void more times than she could count — all of them, in fact, for not stepping up to help her sooner. She doubted that would change anything, but didn't think it could get much worse, either. And of course, just to add to the torment, in every one, too, was _him._

Hah! If her brother could see her now. Maybe he'd be proud — the muscles forming on her arms and legs from Astrid's rigorous training sessions were those she had always wanted as a child. The markings of a strong warrior, her brother had always told her — but not necessarily a smart one, either. He had always insisted that fighting was to be balanced with intelligence; being able to swing an axe or sword through the skull of any beast may have made a good warrior, but only half a good chief, or even a chief at all. He had often used their father as an example…

Of course, if she really was going to be stuck in this gods-forsaken bed — for days, months, weeks — all of her hard-earned training was for naught, and she would be given a front-row seat to watch herself both recover her strength and grow weak at the same time. Perhaps she wouldn't even be able to stand, if it took long enough. How appropriate — forced to watch herself lose something she had worked hard for, for trying to save someone she was supposed to hate.

That she _did_ hate, she reminded herself. Almost as much as this insistent old woman still holding the wooden bowl up to her face. But if she really couldn't move at all…

"Fine," she said, grabbing the bowl out of her hands with all the strength she had, even though Gothi let her take it. "I'll eat it myself, if you just… Go away."

With another, slower nod, she stepped back, but watched Syl until she began sipping from it.

It… Didn't taste as bad as she thought it would. Like a sort of broth, really. Warm, enough to make her realize how cold it was in… _There_...

She took another moment to observe the room — her new quarters, she realized, at least for the time being. She recalled Hiccup telling her that Astrid healed quickly, or at least pretended to, in order to get back out training again, and avoid growing _weak._ She could agree with that, at least, but by that standard, she would have to be up and about within a day or so of getting back. Much as she would've liked to get out of that house — and, preferably, off of the island altogether, if her most recent experience was any indication of what her mother had planned for Berk — there was no way she was going anywhere in the state she was in, not for a few days, at _least_.

She couldn't say she was _completely_ disappointed. Aside from the dreams, the past few weeks hadn't been the _best_ of her life _,_ either. Stoick had stuck true to his word, as Hiccup had warned her he would, and almost every day he would take her around the village, showing her the various defensive points and and lookout towers stationed strategically around Berk, as well as other things she would 'need to know,' when the day finally came, and further. She could glean a bit of satisfaction off of knowing how mad Astrid would be to miss this, but not much else. The whole thing served as a strange reminder of the few occasions when her mother had tried to instill the same lessons in her — not just about their island, but about managing it, ruling it. Of course, her mother's "lessons" had been beyond awkward and pointless, and Syl had just ignored her, mostly out of spite, but also because she'd heard most of it before, from… _Him._

Though his memory haunted her dreams almost every night, she still couldn't bring herself to say his name, not in so much as a whisper or silent mouthing of it on her lips, in the back of her throat. Because, ten years later, it still didn't feel _real._

She had never been opposed to becoming Chief of her tribe. She had just never imagined it — _couldn't_ imagine it. Since she was a child, the term, "Heir to the Throne" had always brought to mind images of her brother, and nothing else. The strange notions that she was a part of some lineage had seemed to her just as much lunacy as the notion of becoming the island's leader. Their home had always been just as shabby as the rest of the island, if a bit set away from it. Her clothes were patched and sewn mostly by herself, their food supply limited most of the time to the scarce game her brother always managed to find, and her parents… It wasn't like the storybooks, to say the least. Yet there was one person who had always held strong, had refused to pull their name through the dirt like every single other islander on it did. He had told her of his plans — that he would one day bring their island back to its glory, would host feasts and hunts every night, would laugh at the ferocity and frequency of the dragon raids as if they were no more than a few swarms of fruit flies in the heat of the summer. They were lofty aspirations, sure, and by a young age, Syl already believed them as little as her brother probably did while telling her. But in the deepest, darkest moments of their father's madness and outbursts, when they had no bread to eat or ran out of firewood on a winter's night, he would remind her of what it would be like, someday, when he became Chief.

And he was dead.

If Berk defeated her mother when the time came… That duty would fall to her. Stoick himself had made that clear, though she had been able to redirect most talks including "Brenna's daughter" with him, until then. It was bad enough having to hear all of the things she already knew over again, but she could tolerate it, at least.

As far as training the dragons went… She had avoided that as much as she could, as well, leaving Hiccup to take on the role, though he seemed almost as reluctant to do it as her. It was obvious he still entertained some fantasies of "making peace" with the enemy, and each going their separate ways, but with every day he travelled out to some island in a bid to gain their allegiance, his hope for the dream seemed a bit dimmer, especially when he returned, regardless of whether they had agreed to help them, or not. Still, in inviting Vikings to the academy to teach them how to fight alongside the dragons without getting killed, he refused to teach them anything but how to fight defensively and avoid dragons' wider tail-swings, wing-stretches, and of course, to stay away from their flashing teeth in combat.

Supposedly, _Toothless_ was instructing the dragons to do the same — only in their case, to avoid injuring or killings humans, and to differentiate between those that would be fighting for and against Berk. Though Syl heavily doubted that was what the dragon was _actually_ telling them, she doubted even more that the dragons were even capable of such advanced thought. The Night Fury seemed to be _slightly_ more intelligent a breed than its counterparts, sure. It was likely the only reason Astrid could retain as much of her humanity — what little she had had to begin with, anyway — in the body of one, and even that appeared fleeting, based on what little time she had spent with her in the past few weeks.

Nobody seemed to be happy lately, in fact — the Vikings who mustered the courage to even go to the Kill Ring often ended up tightening grips on their weapons or muttering curses under their breath whenever Hiccup got to the part about keeping away while they were attacking. He would just go on as if nothing had happened, but it all reminded Syl of why Astrid was where she was — why _she_ was where _she_ was, and exactly how she had gotten herself into this whole mess. And now, trapped in a prison of comfort and immobility, the only keeper of the cell, her own sense of what was good for her.

Stuck there, then, wherever _there_ happened to be. And it seemed that Gothi would be her caretaker. Well, if that was going to be the case…

"I, ah," she stuttered. "I believe I should say a few things, if I'm going to be—"

She stopped. Gothi was gone.

She wasn't sure how long she had been gone _for,_ exactly. Wrapped up in her own thoughts, she must've completely missed her leaving the room — almost impressive, given how slowly the old woman walked. She must have been getting weaker already, if her senses were failing her on such a level.

A single voice, pausing frequently, passed through the door at the front of the room, muffled, and she strained her ears to hear it. The voice, as always, was one she could by then have told anywhere — it might've been the only one so nasally on the island, aside from Snotlout… And just about any of the other teens she had the occasional misfortune of encountering.

The talking ceased after a moment, and Syl contemplated whether sitting up in the sheets to glare or refusing to look at either of them when they came inside was the better option. Eventually, she settled for sitting up, prepared to meet Hiccup with eyes that told him she was still as ready to pummel whoever got in her way as usual and— oh, gods, she really _was_ turning into Astrid...

Of course, this plan may still have worked… Had she not doubled over from a cramp in her side as soon as Hiccup opened the door.

"Syl!" He crossed the room, and was at her side before she could sneer at him to let her be. "What's going on? Are you alright?"

" _Peachy,"_ she said through gritted teeth, edging as far away from him as she could. Unsure of what to say, he stood there until she found a position that wasn't completely unbearable, and let out a sigh. Her eyes moved to the still-open doorway, if not with the fleeting hope for a way out, then at the very least to figure out where she was. But, of course, Gothi was already closing it — but still leaving just enough space for the Night Fury to slip inside, too.

"Does he really have to follow you _everywhere_ you go?" She asked with a groan, averting her eyes from the large, green-outlined-black pair that was already moving closer to the bed than she would have liked, had she had the choice.

The dragon, though, stopped just before it reached halfway past her bedpost and — as if to _taunt_ her — sat down on the spot. His eyes never left her, and he tilted his head. Hiccup smiled. "I don't think that's my choice to make."

She didn't respond, but forced herself to stay tense as the last frigid gasp of air from the closing door reached her arms, bared for Gothi's salves. Still, her breath caught as it passed over the equally cold ointments on the sores, which she somehow only then realized were there. Hiccup, too, had shivered as it passed by only a moment before.

The dragon didn't even flinch. Not that she was paying attention to it, of course.

"I… Wanted to check on you. You took a pretty bad hit back there on the island, and… So did Stormfly, actually…" He frowned, as it became clear that she wasn't going to respond, and could care less about the dragon — visibly, anyway.

He sighed, and started to stand up from the seat he had taken. "I-I'll just be going, then, if you don't really want to talk right now… I suppose that's understandable, considering—"

"You used my name," she interrupted, still not meeting his eyes — or the dragon's. "Meaning you must not be worried about people overhearing it. And I'm betting things have been pretty tense around here since you told your father what happened. So where am I, then? Outside the town? I heard people talking, earlier, so I expect you haven't put me too far out of the village… _Or…?"_

He forced another smile. "This is, uh… Healer Eira's house, right?" He looked back at Gothi, who had gone back to organizing some herbs on a shelf, and she nodded without looking up.

"She had you brought here after she treated your wounds. She was the only one up, and she applied some of the more basic bandages. She thought you might need Gothi, though, so I, uh, flew her down here…"

Seeing her look, he swallowed, and continued quickly, "We'll move you back to your — ah, _Astrid's_ house as soon as you can walk again. Other than that, you've got this house to yourself — with Gothi, that is — for a few days. Eira's just sailed out to the Blinded Mountains tribe with a few others to… Well, that's not..."

Suddenly, Syl understood why he seemed so jittery — more than usual, anyway.

"Your father's rallying them to Berk, isn't he?" She asked. With a frown, he nodded, and she felt her throat tightening. Still, she released it after a moment, trying to sound as impassive as possible. "So, war it will be, then. Been long enough since the raids ended — I guess we were due for some action, weren't we?"

Hiccup seemed inclined to disagree, but didn't shake his head, either.

The silence that followed wasn't as uncomfortable as it should have been. Instead, it was mournful, solemn, already anticipating with held breath the charred and demolished houses, blood running down the roads, sunken ships and fallen warriors. If Brenna won, she would take over Berk for herself, ordering every dragon hunted and killed, if they hadn't already died in the battle. Hiccup and Toothless would be sentenced to public execution, or otherwise paraded around the archipelago like trophies, serving as an example to those who had refused to take a side in the fight. If they were smart, they would run before it came to that, as it became clear the tide was beginning to turn against them in the battle. To flee in exile, the only dragon rider left in the world… Perhaps they would take Astrid with them, for company...

And if Stoick and Hiccup won… Well, she knew all too well what would happen, then. The only subject for that matter the Chief had avoided thus far was whether Brenna would be imprisoned for life, or executed. And even she knew he had already made up his mind. He just hadn't told her, for her own sake — Astrid's sake, that was.

"I… Should tell you, that…" His voice came out hollow, and he cleared his throat. "Back on the island, you… I knew that we could help them, that we shouldn't— _couldn't_ leave them to die there… But you were…"

She couldn't stop her brows from raising in surprise. She remembered what she had said on the island — all too well. But she didn't regret a word. Still, to hear him say it… Almost _thanking_ her, trying to tell her that she'd had a point, at least...

He sighed, and stood up, making to leave. "Y-you need your rest. I shouldn't be bothering you like this. I-I'll check in again after—"

She made a decision.

"Hiccup," she didn't meet his eyes, choosing to stare into her cooling soup, instead. When she spoke, the words were soft as she could make them. "I'm sorry that it's come to this. In a different world, a different time, perhaps my people, my mother especially, wouldn't be the way they are, the way _we_ are, and all of this could've been avoided. I know what's it like to want to run. To just keep running, and never stop. But you… You want to stay, too, to help, and that's… well, that's something I never really..."

She frowned down at some unrecognizable chunks in her soup as she finished, but when she looked up, he was smiling. "I know this isn't the _ideal_ situation, but… Try to enjoy a few days off, Syl. You've earned them."

The dragon, as if on cue, stood up and navigated cautiously around the firepit, where Gothi paid him no mind at all, and then out the door, but not without giving a final glance back inside, at her. Hiccup, a small smile still on his face, followed, closing the door softly behind him as he stepped outside.

Syl took another sip of the soup, and pulled the blanket up around her. It was hard for her to remember the last time she had been able to just lie in bed for so long, the last time she had been sick, ill or injured without having to hide it. She _did_ deserve it.

A few days in bed, she decided, might not be so bad. Of course, she wasn't going to be alone, assuming Gothi would be staying there with her until she was healed. _And since I_ am _doling out kindnesses left and right..._

"Gothi…" Syl started, clearing her throat. " _Elder_ Gothi,"

The old woman looked up with a raised brow, as if surprised to hear the title. Syl was, at least.

"I would like to… acknowledge the fact, that I may have… _borrowed_ a recipe from you, a few weeks back," The old woman snorted at this, and Syl gave pause, not for the first time wondering whether the witch really couldn't speak, or was just pulling one over on everyone in the village. Nonetheless, she blinked, and continued, "... And while my sincere intentions there may not have been _entirely_ clear… I assure you, they did exist."

Gothi's eyes never even flickered from her stew. Syl had to hold back a sigh. The woman's lack of a tolerance for complete and total bull was more developed than Hiccup's, at least, and yet she didn't reel on her like Astrid did. It made her hate the witch that much more. And yet, if this was how it was going to be… The truth it was.

"Fine, then…" She glanced around the room, crossing her arms over her chest, trying to ignore the pain. "I didn't just get it for them to read it. I thought it was, uh… Interesting, all this stuff. _Alchemical magic…_ That is what you call it, right?"

She stopped stirring and glanced over at her, with lowered brows, scrutinizing her. Syl wanted to shrink back into her bed, but sat straight, instead, much as it hurt. Then, Gothi went back to her soup, as if having decided something, and nodded. Syl let out a breath. _Magic…_

"It… Said that, in the book. I know you must know we've read it, by now, or at least looked at it, but… Well, I glanced through it too, sometimes, and caught a few things. Things I thought might be… useful… But I didn't really understand it all, how it worked..."

Syl's brows furrowed, and when she spoke, it came out in almost a whisper. "It… It really is _magic,_ then?"

A smile was already on Gothi's lips, thin, but present. It was all the confirmation Syl needed. She drew in a breath.

"Can you teach me?"

* * *

Hiccup was relieved to find himself being greeted at a door for once, rather than knocking on one himself. So relieved, in fact, that Gothi somehow knowing he was coming before he even reached Healer Eira's house didn't unsettle him in the slightest.

"Gothi," he offered a wry smile, already trying to put his uncomfortable presence and horrible _awareness_ of his father's rant behind him.

Gothi nodded, seeming almost equal in height just by her sheer proximity to him. Though her staff was in her hand, it was clear she was waiting for him to talk, as if he had something to say.

Unfortunately, he did.

He had been able to avoid it when flying her down to the village, at least — the flight was short, they were both in a rush, and the wind too strong for conversation. And, of course, there was nowhere to scribble in the dirt several hundred feet above the ground. Now, however, when none of those applied…

"So… How's Astrid?" It was a valid enough question, and then it wasn't. Syl had needed help, of course. Broken limbs had to be treated, if that was the case, and he wouldn't have wished that upon anybody — especially not paired with an uncomfortable and hasty retreat back to Berk following an ambush. But that was the Viking way, of course, and while Syl might have shared his sentiment in not being in _peak_ physical or muscular condition, she would survive, and she would heal.

As to the _real_ Astrid… He would find out soon enough.

 **FINE**

 **INJURED IN HER CHEST AND LEFT WRIST,**

 **BRUISED ELSEWHERE, HEALING**

 **SHE WILL BE GOOD AS NEW**

 **IN A MATTER OF DAYS**

 **HER PARENTS CAME TO CHECK ON HER**

 **I TOLD THEM SHE NEEDED REST**

 **BUT THEY DID NOT WANT TO LEAVE**

 **UNTIL SHE WOKE UP**

Gothi wrote, looking back up at him with a furrowed brow.

It had been days, at least, since he had last talked to her. His commitment to his father meant he could no longer spend time sitting with her as she studied the book — not that he ever gleaned anything from that, anyway. The last time he was there she still hadn't even let him come within a few feet of it, and he doubted that had changed since, even though he had only gotten a few chances to look at it with Syl's stolen recipe. But then… Perhaps she had changed her mind. And since he wasn't going to be gone all the time anymore…

He brought himself to his full height, and tried to stop his voice from quivering when he spoke.

"I'd… Like to know what you've found. What I should know. For Astrid, for… for anything. I-I feel like I'm just a piece of driftwood in a stormy ocean, I'm just being… pushed around from place to place, and… I suppose that's nothing new, but…"

His forced confidence and words escaped him, and his whole body sagged.

"The poem on the first few pages…" His eyes widened slightly, as he caught himself. "Not that I've been—"

 **I KNOW ABOUT THE RECIPE, HICCUP**

 **I KNOW THE GIRL STOLE IT**

 **I KNOW YOU HAVE READ THE BOOK FOR YOURSELF**

With no energy left in him, he could only give a short laugh. Of course — that had only ever been a matter of time. So she knew. It was one more secret he would no longer have to deal with, at least.

"Maybe Astrid's right about her… She's just doing all this to cause trouble. At least when I do it, it's by accident, but she just seems to go looking for it…"

 **PERHAPS**

Gothi gave a wry glance back at the door that Hiccup almost missed.

 **OR PERHAPS NOT**

 **I BELIEVE WE SHALL FIND OUT**

 **SOON ENOUGH**

 **WHERE HER LOYALTIES LIE**

 **UNTIL THEN, SHE IS DOING HER JOB**

 **AND I SHALL DO MINE**

"Then… Can you give me some answers, or…? Ah, gods, I don't even know what _questions_ I should be asking…" His frown deepened, and Toothless purred behind him, sensing his exhaustion.

 **NOR DO I, HICCUP**

 **AND YET YOU STILL HAVE HOPE**

 **AND I STILL STUDY THE COMPENDIUM**

 **WHILE I CANNOT GIVE YOU THE ANSWERS**

 **NOR THE QUESTIONS YOU SEEK NOW**

 **I CAN AT LEAST LET YOU KNOW WHY**

 **EVERYONE YOU HAVE MET**

 **HAS DONE EVERYTHING IN THEIR POWER**

 **TO STOP YOU FROM READING IT**

The tiniest bit of excitement — from where, he didn't know — returned to his heart, and he nodded. It was something, at least. Gothi wiped away her previous message, before beginning again.

 **IT IS A BOOK OF MAGIC,**

 **AS YOU HAVE GUESSED**

 **HOWEVER, IT IS NOT SO SIMPLE**

 **MAGIC IS A RARITY**

 **AND WHAT LITTLE HUMANS CAN NORMALLY WIELD**

 **COULD BARELY BE CALLED THAT**

 **IT IS NOT MUCH MORE THAN THE HERBS**

 **AND REMEDIES I AND OTHER HEALERS PRACTICE**

 **THE TRICKS WITH FIRE**

 **YOU'VE SEEN AND PRACTICED YOURSELF**

"And… the potion? For Astrid's voice? What about that?" He asked.

 **THE BEST OF MY ABILITIES**

 **THAT IS AN EXAMPLE OF**

 **SOME OF THE GREATEST FEATS OF MAGIC WE COULD PERFORM**

 **AND FOR A LONG TIME, IT WAS BELIEVED**

 **THAT THIS WAS ALL THAT THERE WAS**

"It's… Still pretty amazing," he stuttered. "But I'm not sure I like where you're going with this."

 **NEITHER DO I**

 **AND THAT IS WHY WE TRIED**

 **TO WITHHOLD THE BOOK**

 **FROM YOU**

 **YOUR FATHER KNOWS ENOUGH**

 **TO KNOW THAT ITS CONTENTS ARE DANGEROUS**

 **I KNEW LITTLE MORE, TRULY**

 **EXCEPT THIS**

Once again, she cleared away her message.

 **DECADES**

 **PERHAPS CENTURIES AGO**

 **THERE WAS ANOTHER PEOPLE**

 **IN THE ARCHIPELAGO**

 **THEY PRACTICED MAGIC**

 **IN THE SAME WAY I DO TODAY**

 **BUT IT WAS REVERED**

 **NOT FEARED**

 **THEY STUDIED ITS USE**

 **AS YOU STUDY DRAGONS**

Hiccup frowned, and she cleared it again.

 **THEY WERE A TRAVELLING PEOPLE**

 **ALWAYS SEARCHING FOR THE NEWEST**

 **THINGS THE WORLD COULD OFFER**

 **UNTIL ONE DAY, THEY STOPPED,**

 **SETTLED DOWN.**

 **THEY FOUND SOMETHING**

 **THAT ENDED THEIR SEARCH.**

 **SOMETHING BEYOND OUR UNDERSTANDING.**

 **SOMETHING MAGICAL, POWERFUL.**

 **THAT IS ALL I CAN TELL YOU OF THESE PEOPLE FOR NOW**

 **BUT KNOW THIS**

 **THEY ARE THE ONES WHO WROTE THIS BOOK**

 **IT DETAILS EVERY DISCOVERY THEY EVER MADE**

 **THERE MAY HAVE BEEN MORE BOOKS, ONCE**

 **BUT ALAS, THIS IS THE ONLY ONE**

 **STILL IN THE ARCHIPELAGO**

 **THAT WE KNOW OF**

 **TO READ IT ALONE MAY HAVE DANGERS, YES**

 **BUT MORE DANGEROUS YET**

 **IS THE KNOWLEDGE IT HOLDS**

 **YOUR FATHER KNEW**

 **YOUR CURIOUS MIND**

 **AS DO I**

 **UNTIL I CAN TELL YOU MORE**

 **IF THERE IS ANYTHING**

 **TO HELP ASTRID**

 **OR YOUR DRAGON**

 **IT IS IN HERE.**

"I…" His mind raced with questions, and he opened his mouth, only to realize it was pointless. She had told him all she would, for now — that was her way.

Gothi seemed to read his thoughts, and smiled, opening the door a crack behind her.

 **COME**

 **LET US SEE YOUR FRIEND**

 **PERHAPS SHE HAS HEALED IN THE TIME**

 **WE HAVE LEFT HER HERE.**

Hiccup smiled and nodded at her, letting a flutter of hope return to his chest, and followed her inside.

* * *

By the time they had left the house, Hiccup had a spring in his uneven step. Gothi's message may have been a _little_ cryptic, but with Syl's almost-apology, as well as the knowledge that Gothi at least _knew_ enough about what they were getting into to keep secrets from them... Things were looking up.

Without realizing it, Hiccup started to paint a picture in his mind. Gothi would find a way to change Astrid back, eventually, and a cure for whatever Toothless was experiencing, magical or otherwise. Once she could assure its success, Astrid could spend a week or two more as a dragon — she wouldn't mind, he reasoned — discovering as much as she could about their culture. Once changed back, they could help Syl go back to her mother, maybe even with his father's help, and convince her to change her mind about dragons, about the war. It hadn't been so easy with _his_ father, of course, but Brenna was rational, too — she wouldn't want to lose any more of her people to a worthless cause if peace could be made. He just _knew_ she wouldn't.

He was only half-aware of Toothless landing in the cove, until he heard him purring. At first, he thought it was just the dragon urging him to get off out of laziness, until he came to a realization.

Astrid was nowhere to be found.

Nowhere obvious, anyway — the entire cove was oddly empty, quiet in the face of the oncoming winter. She may have been in the woods — but that was unlikely, given her preference for vision of as much as she could see around her. In the lake, swimming, maybe — she had told him she had learned how to do that the last time they had talked, but had seemed quick to change the topic despite his questions, for some reason. Besides, it was already beginning to ice over, and if she still was, it was too small for her to be able to go unnoticed. She couldn't have gotten out, unless…

"Bud, do you know…?" He asked as he glanced around, blinking himself out of his thoughts, and clambering off the dragon. The Night Fury sniffed the air, before narrowing his eyes as he glanced around. She was here, but…

Suddenly, the dragon's body froze, mid-step, face to the ground. Narrowing his eyes, he turned around completely, and began marching straight across the beach. Hiccup stumbled after him.

"You know where she is? Did you catch a new scent trail, or—?" He asked, as if the Night Fury could actually explain it to him.

Still, raising an eyebrow — or the dragon equivalent — he lifted a paw to gesture at the sand… Where Night-Fury shaped footprints led down alongside the lake, away from the woods.

"Ah," he responded, wincing. "You just, uh… Lead the way, bud."

The footprints only led them as far as the end of the beach, before the sand gave way to dirt too hard-packed and cold to leave an imprint. Still, the cove wasn't that big. And if she wasn't even in the woods, then—

He looked up. No, there was still nothing. A large, weathered boulder was covered by the shade of the cliff, but was too close to the sheer face for Astrid to be hiding behind it.

He frowned. "There's nothing here, bud. Come on, she must be in the woods somewh—"

He growled at him again, and Hiccup stopped. The Night Fury gestured again at the boulder, and Hiccup opened his mouth… and blinked.

Because it wasn't just a boulder.

Astrid was curled up on top of it, tail hanging down along the side so closely he had mistaken it for a strange formation of the stone. Her wings were pulled tight against her body, her feet, torso, and head all curled together, almost perfectly covering the flat stone on top. If he glanced out of the corner of his eye or didn't look closely enough, it was still hard to believe she was even there.

But beyond that, she was almost… Cute, beneath the two equally deadly layers of _Astrid_ as a _Night Fury_.

Something about that seemed just plain _wrong._ Astrid could be beautiful, sure, strong and so stunning it made his eyes hurt, sometimes. But anything even close to _adorable_ was so far from accurate, any time a guy even muttered some variation of the word around her, they'd be in for a beating bad enough to make them run home to their mothers and watch their backs constantly for the next several months, if not forever. So the fact that Astrid would ever even _let_ herself be seen that way was just _weird,_ unless, of course… She was sleeping.

But… That didn't seem right, either. Her training regimen had changed since her transformation, obviously, but it was almost mid-morning. She _never_ slept in this late, _ever._

 _Though come to think of it, she has looked a bit more… Tired, the last few times I've seen her, and that was days ago._ He thought, suddenly noticing what appeared to be bags beneath her eyes, before telling himself it was just a trick of the shadows she was bathed in. Still… He didn't like just standing here, staring at her. She would probably hate him if she found out. That, at least, he _knew_ was wrong.

"Come on, bud," he told Toothless, already backing away, keeping his eyes on Astrid. "I—I don't really want to bother her while she's… Like this. We can come back late—"

The dragon huffed from beside him, before rushing around to his back and pushing him from behind.

"Wha—" He said, stumbling forward, before turning around to glare at him. "She's asleep! Gods, haven't you ever heard of 'never wake a sleeping dragon,' before? And _you_ should know what could happen, bud…"

The Night Fury gave a not-so-kindly purr and sent him a glare back, then nodded again at the sleeping figure on the rock. The message was clear. _She deserves to know what happened._

And he was right.

"Oh, by Thor's Hammer..." He sighed, and started the walk up to her face, shooting an unhappy frown back at Toothless before he reached her. He purred back at him, and sat down.

Her face was just above eye-level, resting against her front paws, turned at a slight angle. He watched as a small puff of hot air was pushed from her snout every few seconds, followed by an inhale that tensed up her whole body, before releasing again. To be in the presence of a creature like this while it was sleeping was, in a way, scarier than it would be while it — _she —_ was awake. The untapped potential of power, of strength, seemed to shimmer around her like an aura. Strong as Astrid was already, it was hard to believe it was still her inside of that creature's body, sometimes.

 _Well, here goes nothing,_ he thought.

"Hey, Astrid…" He raised a hand to her snout.

Her eyes snapped open before he could touch her, narrowed into slits.

* * *

The Night Fury slept.

She dreamt of a hunt.

The great pyres of rock had all been taken down — her own doing, as per usual. The screeches of their young and old running for cover, the cries in their own thick tongue, "Night Fury, get down!" before her fire released and she _struck,_ bringing down upon their petty structures the force and heat of a thousand strikes of lighting at once. The _impact_ and sound of it crumbling, already behind her, below her — soaring back up into the sky and feeling the crushing despair of the humans, the horror was nothing but _invigorating._ Those of her blood had been struggling before, yes, but now _she_ was there, the _Night Fury._ The field of battle had changed — the humans no longer stood a chance of winning, and they _knew it_.

But tonight was different. This night, the group of humans' nest blazed, an inferno of flame that could rival the depths of the Queen's own mountain. They were weak, even compared to their own counterparts; it was why their nest returned there on hunts so often. Not that there was even much food to gather from them, anyway. Attack there too often, and they had no time to restock what little sources of meat they had. The Queen would have to make _sacrifices_ that night for those who brought back too little; examples of the stragglers, to teach those who thought they could scurry by on scrapings under her watch. Only the strong survived. _She_ would never be _sacrificed,_ however. She was too important. If she died, the humans thrived; if the humans thrived, the dragons died. And if the dragons died, the Queen starved. It was a relationship she revelled in the pride of. The others feared her close connection with the queen, but no matter — let them fear her. It was better she stayed alone. The nest wasn't her only life, after all…

The towers were already down when she spotted them, halfway across the nest, hundreds of feet below: a small group of humans, being led into the woods by two others at the front. Even from there, she could make out some basic details; one was larger, of the size those of the blood had come to recognize them for after hundreds of years, and for some reason, she found herself smirking when she looked at it, though she couldn't quite place why.

The second, however, was different. Smaller, thinner, and younger, but with a sharp rod of iron in his claws — a sword, they were called — and just as bold as the others. Her smile only widened at this — her _target._ And now was her chance.

She went into a dive, narrowing her eyes down, tight. So tight they were almost closed, and… Sniffed the air.

Human scent. Close.

Her eyes flew back open. She was lying on the ground, or near it — that was the first thing wrong. Second… The sun was above her. No, that was impossible. She had been in the sky, high above with the moon to guide her. Had she crashed? And then there was the smell again. The smell of—

 _Human._ There was a human in front of her, below her, standing there with its hand raised up to her head, ready to slit her throat, ready to poke her eyes out with a knife.

Her wings flared, and she leapt, snarling, vision red. It barely had enough time to give a pitiful chirp before it was slammed to the ground, probably dazed, if not knocked out, as well. She frowned — it was a delicate thing, smaller than most of them. Not the same as her target, but still, not typical, either. Weaker. Killing it would be a mercy.

Her paw raised up, talons unsheathed, ready to bring them down upon the quivering creature's neck, before she hesitated. There was another scent in the air, as well. One of her own. One of a—

A force like a boulder slammed into her midsection, flinging her off of the human, several feet away. She screeched as she crashed into water, lapping up around her legs as she jumped to her feet, growling.

Her attacker stood in front of her, a snarl of his own on his face as he bent down, ready to fight. The human cowered behind him, frightened and confused. She took a step forward, sore, but furious. This one would pay for what he had done in blood. She had chosen her prey, and to bar her from killing it was—

" _Astrid!"_

She blinked, and narrowed her eyes. Astrid? That was not her _name._ That was not _her._ She was a Night Fury, a dragon caught unawares and threatened by a human, a human she intended to _kill_. She was not about to be challenged by one who would stoop so low as to protect it, and that—

And that was not _her._

She stepped back into the water.

Her… That was not… _Her._ She was a Night Fury, one of the blood, a… a dragon…

That was not her.

She took another step back into the water, letting it float up around the base of her legs. It touched her chin as she lowered her head to its rippling surface.

That was not her. That was not her.

 _That was not me._

 _That wasn't me._

She was… Astrid… Astrid Hofferson… a girl from Berk… She was a human… She _was_ a human… A warrior, and _that…_ the Night Fury. That was Toothless. That was her friend.

And the human — the _real_ human — standing behind his Night Fury — Toothless — staring at her in horror, in fear... that was… that was…

 _Oh, gods... Oh no. No, no no— That… that was…_

Hiccup.

She had just tried to kill Hiccup.

 _That wasn't me._

And yet… it was.

" _Astrid,"_ Toothless repeated. He still crouched low to the ground, though, ready to fight back at a moment's notice… To fight _her..._ to kill _her…_ to protect Hiccup… from her…

" _Say something… Astrid, say something. We need to know it's…"_

 _To know it's me_ , Astrid thought. Gods, how could she tell him when she didn't know herself? That…

" _That… Wasn't me,"_ she responded. " _That wasn't…"_

Toothless relaxed a bit, his muscles visibly loosening. He cast his eyes down, and gave a low, soft purr. Hiccup's eyes darted between her and him, though the dragon didn't seem to notice. " _Astrid, thank… I thought we'd lost—"_

She gave an anguished cry, feeling her claws dig into the still, soft sand of the lake shore. " _That wasn't me… That wasn't me!"_

She screeched, as if her words could be heard by all the archipelago if only she was loud enough.

Toothless stepped forward, as if reading her thoughts, but he was too late, and her vision was still too red.

Her claws dug into the sand as she struggled onto the shore, the water dragging her back in like demons clawing her back down into the abyss. She fought them, though, and leapt onto the shore, free of the water's grasp. Toothless, seeing what she was about to do, had already started to close the gap. He had receded to protect Hiccup by the boulder, though, and was still too far away to stop her in time.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Hiccup stumbling forward after Toothless, as if making to follow, as well, but still too dazed to take more than a few steps without falling to one knee. Dazed, because she had tackled him. Because she had tried to _kill_ him…

She made for the forest. Her legs obeyed, and soon she was under the cover of the trees, dodging between and around them with a grace only accomplished with weeks of practice. She kept going, running, until… A wall stopped her. Frightened at first, as if being confronted by her worst nightmare, she skidded to a halt, turned, and ran down alongside it, to the left. The cold sunlight beamed down through the leafless trees, but the shadow of the wall was an almost comforting dark for her to run in— until she reached another wall. A corner. Not a perfect one, but rounded enough that she would have to change direction or risk slamming into it head-first.

Growling, she shifted her momentum as she reached it, but was stopped by a black blur jumping in front of her.

" _Astrid."_

Not meeting his eyes, she whipped around, trying to run back down where she had come from. Again, though, he stepped in front of her, blocking her escape. Finally, she met his eyes, fierce.

For a full minute, each of them stood there, daring the other to attack, to make the next move. She glared into his eyes, pushing outward with hers all the ferocity she could muster in her soul refined into a command to _let her go_ , only accomplished by years of practice on others who had made the mistake of defying her wishes.

And yet, in his eyes… Was the resilience of a dragon. Of one dragon who had been willing to defy his Queen, who chose not to kill a young, scrawny boy in the woods who had shot him down and grounded him forever. A creature who would willingly die to ensure the safety of the one he was supposed to hate, but loved like a brother. One so humble, he tried to hide his own illnesses to appear as strong as he could for others. He was better than most, dragons and humans alike.

He was better than her.

She collapsed down to the ground with a cry, and shut her eyes so tightly it hurt. Toothless relaxed a bit, too, and sat down, but kept staring at her. They stayed that way for a while, the silence only broken by a shuddering breath she took every few seconds, the muffled, fast but subsiding thumps of her own heartbeat.

Toothless glanced around, tail flicking behind him unconsciously. " _This is… Getting old, isn't it? Running into these woods, I mean..."_

She kept her eyes shut, hoping that if she pressed herself into the ground hard enough, she could become a part of it. " _That wasn't me."_

He frowned at her. " _I know."_

" _No, you don't,"_ she finally opened them, and rose up on her front feet, just a little. " _That… Wasn't me. It was like there was… Like I didn't even…"_

He raised a brow, urging her on, but she saw only doubt in his eyes. " _You don't believe me, do you?"_

He tilted his head to the side, and huffed. " _Astrid, just a few weeks ago you turned into a full-fledged dragon, and we still don't know why, aside from something to do with magic, which, apparently, exists. Do you really need the answer to that question?"_

She sighed. " _It… Wasn't, though. Not just not_ like _me, but not… Me. Someone else, some…thing, else. When I woke up, it wasn't me in my body, in my mind… It was a…"_ She stopped herself, though Toothless already knew what she was going to say.

" _A dragon,"_ he finished. Astrid nodded for a moment, before the blood seemed to drain straight out of her body. To where, she didn't know.

 _Who chose not to kill a young boy..._

She had been dreaming — she remembered, now. It had been difficult to separate reality from delusion, at first, but she could piece it together, now… Now that she was _her,_ again. Waking up, trying to kill Hiccup… that had been real. But before that, she was asleep. Dreaming. Yet…

It couldn't _just_ have been a dream. At least when she had had the vision of her and Toothless, something had seemed _wrong._ Some part of her _knew_ that what was happening wasn't right, wasn't _her._ But this… This was _real._ It was… a memory. _Memories._ The burning village, the group running into the woods — the memories were already fading, but receding into the back of her mind like visions of another life from years before, not strange and vanishing nightmares broken by the exposure to reality. She _swore_ that had _happened._ And yet, it _wasn't her._

There was one thing she knew, though — it had been the memory of a Night Fury. She just _didn't think that way_ — taking down towers... the exhilaration of the explosion behind her... and of course, the terms; those 'of the blood,' sacrifices, even a mental picture of the Queen's nest she had seen not more than a glimpse of once herself. Of course, there was only one Night Fury she knew... one who matched all of those descriptions… But, it couldn't have been…

Toothless, once again, seemed to read her thoughts, but was still a step behind. " _Then… What was it, Astrid? What made you…?"_

His eyes were not deceptive, not scheming, she decided. He was just as confused, just as scared, as her. But then, the memories… She was _sure_ they were memories...

… At a time when he had been under the Queen's control. Suddenly, she remembered all he had been through — he had troubles of his own, after all — a disease of the mind, though no one knew what. It had just been a dream.

And yet, if that was so, she had still tried to kill Hiccup.

She collapsed down once again, the remnants of despair resurging within her. Toothless started to say something again, but she quickly spun to the wall, wrapping her wings around her body in a cocoon.

She growled at nothing in particular. " _It. Wasn't. Me."_

" _Fine, it wasn't,"_ he told her, eyes narrowing, though not at her. " _But that's not enough. I need to know that Hiccup is going to be safe if we keep coming back here. That you're… Safe. If anywhere is safe, considering what happened just a few hours—"_

She whirled back around, tense. " _What happened?"_

A snarl crossed his face, and obvious distaste and anger laced his thoughts. " _We were attacked, by men, on the island. Cowards are what they were — they used the fog to conceal their… Their ships, and rained stones of fire down upon us before they landed. Hiccup wanted to stay, but we would likely all have died, if we had. We barely made it out, anyway. His father gathers your people, now, for war."_

She felt disgust boiling in her own stomach as he finished, too, but there were more important things. " _Was anyone hurt?"_

Toothless tried to conceal a grimace. " _The girl was knocked out by the fire. She's resting, but they say she'll need to heal, first. Hiccup and I were fine, I managed to catch him just before…"_

Astrid narrowed her eyes at him as he tried to avoid them. " _Toothless… Don't lie to me. I need to know. What happened?"_

He winced. " _Stormfly's leg was wounded, and bleeding on the way back. It may be broken, but as long as she rests, as well, she should—"_

For the third time that day, her world came crashing down around her. _Stormfly. Wounded. Bleeding. Broken._

This was her fault — all her fault. _Everything_ was. None of this, _none of it_ would have happened if she hadn't… If she hadn't been so _stupid_. Gods, even if she had just _died_ when that acid spilled on top of her, everything would be so much easier for everybody. She didn't care about Valhalla, not anymore — no Hel could be worse than the one she had put herself and everyone else through already.

 _Wounded. Bleeding Broken. Stormfly._ Her dragon… _Stormfly,_ when she had needed Astrid the most…

It was too much.

She raised her head to the sky, and _howled._ Birds scattered, trees rustled in a sudden gust of wind that carried the sound that already echoed in the cove over its walls. She carried it out until her throat hurt, until she could hear Toothless's telling her to stop like a dull ringing in the back of her mind.

When her breath was gone, when her soul and spirit and strength were all spent in a single sound, she let her entire body sag down to the packed dirt, dead in all but name.

There was a long silence. A cold wind still rustled the trees, blowing what few leaves still remained into the encroaching, cool clouds above.

Toothless walked over and lay down beside her with a groan, wrapping his tail around himself. Both of them stared out at the woods, at the light casting shadows of dead trees on the ground and one another, like bodies falling under the might of some unseen enemy.

" _It happened, didn't it?"_ He asked. " _When Stormfly was here last…"_

She closed her eyes, tightly. " _It was exactly like you said. I let my… my anger, get the best of me, and… told her to leave. And she left. But it wasn't like I was just telling her, I was—"_

" _Commanding her,"_ he nodded. " _That's what happens, yes. We possess the ability to talk to them, but more than that… It seems some semblance of the Queen's power of control is at the core of our beings, as well. We hold… influence, over other dragons. Over their minds… Why that is, I don't…."_

He lay his chin on the ground, too, and his eyelids seemed to collapse more than close, his own weariness laid bare for the first time in… Astrid wasn't sure how long. He was keeping them secret from them, his _attacks_ — Hiccup had told her he suspected as much. _She_ knew it for a fact. Whether telling Hiccup what she had seen for herself would even help him, she couldn't say. Hiccup had seen it himself, after all, and they still had no idea what could be done for him. But then, if it had only gotten worse since then, it seemed sinful to keep anything she knew from him. Only Toothless could really tell them what was wrong. Perhaps he kept it secret for Hiccup's sake, but Astrid didn't think so. There was a fear in his eyes, a terror that went beyond concern for his rider. Perhaps he had been having visions, too…

She found herself drifting back to the dream — because it _was_ a dream — despite her aversion to it. A Night Fury, in service of the Queen… Gods, she already sounded like one of them herself. She had corrupted their minds, truly, to ever even make them call her by a title of honor, of royalty — she was a true monster. Toothless was not.

Even if that _had_ been Toothless, however that was even possible… It wasn't him, either. Not the real Toothless. Yet... he had still chosen not to kill Hiccup, that fateful day he was shot down. Astrid had always assumed it was because he was different, or out of a grudging respect — that Toothless had seen something in Hiccup that day when he cut his ropes, and paid back the favor by sparing him his life. But… Maybe it was something different — maybe he saw something else in Hiccup, _someone_ else, a regret, a mistake he made that he had vowed never to make again…

 _Who chose not to kill a young boy..._

Gods, what was she _thinking?_ This was Toothless — this was her _friend._ And besides, now was not the time to be throwing accusations about. Not when he was crippled, vulnerable and ill. Not when he didn't trust her. Not when she didn't even trust herself…

Toothless was watching her face, both with curiosity and concern. She had never thought of dragons as expressive before she met him — she had never had reason to, never mind even glimpsing one's face for long enough to see anything but a threat before throwing an axe at it — yet he had repeatedly proven to her he was capable of every visible emotion a human was capable of, and more. She realized then, too, that she must have been making these same faces, and blinked, settling on an unimpressed scowl she had practiced with her reflection in the lake. Still, she couldn't hold it up, and found herself sighing again as she turned away.

She heard the dragon shift behind her, and cast her head down. Then he sighed, too.

" _To think that I'm doing this, but…"_ he purred. " _Astrid, if there is anything you think I can do to help you… I will. I don't know what's happening to you, either. To any of us. But… If you think there's something, anything that would ensure that you… that you're well, I'll do it."_

She snorted. A disease ravaging his mind, driving him away from those he cared for, and he was still offering his help, however reluctantly. Toothless.

Still facing the wall, she stood up, and was about to tell him 'no,' then stopped.

There was… One thing.

How it would help? She wasn't sure, and yet, she knew it was necessary. It shouldn't have been. But, assuming that this all _was_ just her going mad in the cove — though terrifying, the alternative, whatever it was, _must_ have been even worse — this was the only cure. She knew it, in her heart and soul. She was nothing without it. She would never _be_ anything without it. Not when she was… like this.

Yet, this wasn't new at all. No, she had wanted it, _needed_ it from the moment she woke up like this. The decision had been made long before then — it was simply a matter of _when._ And here, worn out, scared and beaten, cowering in the shade of an open cell of her own making, she knew it was time.

And besides… Toothless needed some cheering up, too.

" _You want to help, Toothless?"_ she asked him, bowing her head suddenly in the respect of a pupil, after she stood and turned to face him.

" _Teach me how to fly."_


	25. The Lesson

**Hello again!**

 **I just wanted to begin by clarifying something, if I hadn't before, or if it wasn't already clear — there is absolutely no romantic pairing between Astrid and Toothless in this story whatsoever by myself, nor will there ever be. I'm aware Astrid accused Toothless of transforming her for the sake of a mate early on in the story, but that is not what I intend to truly imply whatsoever throughout the development of their relationship, nor why or how the two of them have grown at least somewhat close as individuals — they're good friends, and nothing more.**

 **I usually try to refrain from discussing the story's content in detail in these A/Ns, but I thought it would be an important point to mention, again, as I don't want to lead all of you readers down the wrong path, in that respect… Even though no one to date has mentioned it, anyway. Ah, well. Now you know for certain.**

 **Other than that, my apologies for the delay, I would make the excuse that I had finals this past week, but the truth is I probably wrote at least half of this chapter during that time, mostly out of sudden, stress-induced adrenaline boosts paired with slightly too much coffee. Still, a positive output, at least!**

 **Well, that's about it! I hope you all enjoy and be sure to follow for updates and review!**

 **I don't own How to Train Your Dragon.**

* * *

" _Your goal tonight,"_ Toothless told her, from atop the ledge of the cove, " _is to reach me."_

Astrid squinched her eyes up at him from the ground, his face barely outlined in the darkness. The moonlight usually present to illuminate them both was absent that night, thanks to a thick cloud cover blanketing the entire island in darkness. His two green eyes were the only thing truly visible, even with her advanced sight. " _That's ridiculous."_

" _Oh, is it?"_ he asked her, as she heard him huff from up above her. " _Remind me again who requested we do this at night?"_

She groaned. He was technically in the right — after Hiccup had found them in the woods a few days before, she had made the dragon swear to keep her request a secret, as well as make their lessons privately, after dark. He had obliged, but with more than enough hesitation that she couldn't help but share; the reason _Syl_ couldn't know was obvious enough, but they had both long since grown tired of keeping secrets from Hiccup. Still, she wasn't ready to tell him about… _this._ She had still given in, and had not only agreed, but _asked_ to be taught, to be dragged further down into the pit — she had broken her own steadfast limits yet again, simply for the demands and temptations of her new form. She was past what would or wouldn't betray her honor as a Viking — _long_ past. Now it was a matter of keeping her own sanity. And if what had happened with the dream was any indication of what was to come if she continued to refuse what her new limbs and instincts demanded of her, she _had_ to do this. Yet, if it was just the opposite case, and still she continued to give in, to fold… She couldn't even bring herself to think about it.

She growled at him. " _How do you expect me to do this, then? We haven't practiced takeoff yet, and I've barely even tried gliding. Shouldn't I have more practice with that, first?"_

The first evening they had spent on form. Toothless would sit atop the cliff and tell her to stretch her wings and turn her tail in different directions from atop a boulder, critiquing her on the most marginal extensions and angles of her wings, upper-tail flaps, and fins, to the point where even she started to get annoyed. The difference it made, he told her, would become clear when she was hundreds of feet above the ground in heavy wind.

She was surprised — given his usual, more _radical_ teaching style, she had figured flight would be no exception, and he'd have her in the sky within the first hour of her training, like it or not. She figured, though, that he must've been respecting her willingness to learn in the first place, and so never questioned it.

But with all the exercises of her wings and tail, the stretching and opening and leaning left-and-right he was having her do, she soon arrived at a different conclusion. He was teasing her, _playing_ with her. Because he _knew_ how long she had needed this for.

At first, it had been different, to be fair — she had convinced herself she only wished to ride Stormfly again. It was a valid enough thought, she reasoned; she missed her friends and her family, her Nadder being no exception. Their flights before had been almost as much a part of Astrid's life as it had been of Hiccup's, or even Stormfly's herself. She had always loved to be up there with her, to touch the clouds, to see the whole island and sea like dots and colors on a map. She still remembered the exhilaration, fear and excitement of their first nosedive, the way her breath was stolen away as a sudden updraft sent them soaring into the sky, Stormfly's happy chirps and her own laughter being drowned out by the wind, heard only by one another. How it gave her a chance to get away, to _escape_ from everyday life, a luxury she didn't know she needed.

Indeed, it was a thing to be missed.

Eventually, though, she had to come to terms with herself — it wasn't what she wanted. It was, of course, but… Not like before. Because truly, she no longer wished to fly atop Stormfly, so much as she did _alongside_ her. And Toothless _knew it._

He _knew_ how badly her wings ached to be lifted by the wind every time she opened them. He _knew_ the _feeling_ of flight unrestrained, how badly she needed to feel it for herself, how her muscles and heart fought with her mind over want and _need._ How, as much as she tried to avoid it, she always found her eyes travelling back up to the clouds and stars on nights when she was alone, wondering, hoping, _dreaming_ of what it would be like to be oh-so- _free._ How, no matter how much she tried to remind herself of who she was, _what_ she _truly_ was, or at least, was supposed to be, when the sun was above her, she always found herself fanning out her wings in the midst of her own imagination just before she fell asleep.

He _must have_ known — because he had been there, stuck in the cove, too, just like her. He had said once he would one day get his revenge on her. Perhaps this was it. Fitting enough, she supposed, but the fact didn't serve to quell her desperation a bit.

" _You seemed eager enough to accelerate your training before,"_ he told her, a smirk spread across his face that she could just _feel_ all the way from the ravine's floor. " _Why the sudden change of heart?"_

She frowned. On the second night, when he had proposed they spend a few more hours going over several positions with her wings she had not yet mastered, she defied him. With enough refusal — as well as added proof that she had been practicing the exercises all day; she could no longer be satisfied just thinking about it, and repetitive, relentless drilling _was_ her own way of learning — he'd reluctantly agreed to let her try gliding.

Still, he made her launch from the boulder she had been sleeping on when she had 'the dream,' as she had taken to calling it. She wasn't prone to superstition — not much — but now that magic was a factor, she wasn't sure what to believe, and had begged him in the most dignified way she could manage to give her another spot. But it was, he claimed, the highest place for her to glide from in the cove, allowing her to practice varying distances, while still being low enough to the ground that she posed no serious risk of flipping herself over midair and breaking a wing.

Nonetheless, any hesitation she had for the rock ended as soon as she opened her wings from atop it. A strong gust of wind had chosen that moment to pass through the cove, and the experience alone as it swept up beneath the membrane of them was almost enough to make her jump into the air right then and there. Instead, though, she closed her eyes, and forced herself to just _imagine_ again how it would feel. Soon, she told herself, she would know… That was, if Toothless would hurry up with his damn lessons.

The first glide had been rough — she more fell off the boulder than jumped, and her wings snapped to her side almost immediately out of instinct, sending her hurtling to the ground hard enough to leave a rather large divet. Her second attempt saw more success — she was able to keep her wings open, but let them flare too much in the back, Toothless had explained to her, and was sent to the ground at only a slightly slower rate than the first try.

Astrid spent the rest of the evening practicing that, as she began to understand why Toothless had put so much emphasis on practicing the different positions and extensions of her wings. Eventually, she started jumping _up_ from the rock to gain more starting height and thus distance, and by the end was able to reach almost halfway across the beach, towards the woods, without crashing. Most times, though, she either instantly or eventually veered off to the left or right, snapping her wings closed as soon as she began to flip for fear of breaking one driven more by instinct than she would have liked. Sudden impact with the ground served as a harsh but fair punishment-system, though, and gave her a reason to keep herself in the air for as long as she could, aside from the pure sensationalism of it. Landings were still less than perfect, and, she knew, much slower than a real one would be, but she had at least learned to coordinate pulling in her wings with putting her feet out in front of her.

They had practiced that for the last few nights — him watching her repeat the same moves from atop the cliff, her cursing up a storm below, occasionally allowing herself growls and snarls when thought-messages directed at the cliffs, ground or dragon up above her weren't enough. Most of the time, Toothless stayed silent, but on occasion, would make a comment about mistakes she kept making, or instruct her to try something different; gaining slightly more or less air on the jump; curving her wings upward so she was vertical, and flapping to help her stop; deliberately turning left or right mid-air; using the angle of her tailfin, wings, or both.

At one point, after a particularly rough landing that left her aching and cursing her own wings to the void, she noticed him shaking his head at her out of the corner of her eye.

" _What?"_ She demanded, staring up at him. " _What is it? What am I doing wrong?"_

If he was surprised by her outburst, he didn't show it.

" _You didn't relax much as a human, did you?"_ He asked.

She'd snarled at him, barely able to contain her rage. " _Too much makes you lazy. You lose awareness of your surroundings. I'm sorry_ your highness _never had to worry about watching his own back at every corner, what with your scaled hide and wings. Humans aren't quite so well-armored, if you hadn't noticed. We can't afford to live like you if we want to live at_ all _."_

He'd only rolled his eyes. " _Yet you needed to be flexible as a warrior — fluid, loose. Keep too tense and you would be more likely to hurt yourself than anyone else. Is this not the case?"_

" _It is,"_ she rumbled. " _What's your point?"_

He lifted his head up, as if he needed to make himself appear even higher and mightier than he already was. " _The same applies here. You're too tense, and that's nothing new, either — you've spent the weeks since your transformation with your muscles so knotted up they may as well be ropes. Stay alert, aware of your surroundings, by all means. Don't grow lazy. But remember the importance of keeping yourself flexible, too, of breathing, relaxing them when needed. Most importantly... don't make a bigger deal of this than you should. I know you've changed, Astrid. I know you're uncomfortable doing this. But I think you'd be surprised to find just how much of your training as a human could be carried over to your new form."_

She had frowned, but followed his steps, letting out a deep breath before jumping up on the boulder, and then another before she jumped again, attempting more calmly the maneuver she had been struggling with for the past hour. She did it on the first try.

Toothless's teaching methods may at least have been effective, if nothing else. Though she was happy to see him at least acting content, not as afraid as he used to be, a bit more of the Toothless she remembered — or at least expected, from how she had known him as a human — with it returned his cheek, as well. She could stand it, to an extent. She always had. Eventually, though, she was driven to firing back. That, unfortunately, was usually how their sessions would end. Not a high note in the slightest, but still more productively than nothing at all, and she would spend the next day practicing whatever he had been criticizing her for when the argument broke out. And every time, without fail, she admitted to herself once alone, after plenty of practice and a good night's sleep, that he was right, and treat him a bit better come his next visit. Then the cycle began again.

If nothing else, it was a start.

This, however, was an entirely different level, and changed her mind on his teachings altogether. Of course, he would allow her to take it slowly at first, only to ask the near impossible of her one day. It was such a Toothless thing to do, she was amazed she hadn't seen it coming, earlier.

" _Besides, this_ is _your takeoff training, if you must know,"_ he told her. " _A physical incentive is one of the best sources of motivation. I would expect you to know that, of all people, Astrid. You do want to get out of this cove, don't you?"_

She grumbled at nothing in particular. She did, but… When she was ready, too. And she was smart enough to know, right now, at least, she wasn't.

" _I do,"_ She retorted. " _But I'd like to avoid getting myself killed trying. So… What else have you got?"_

He frowned. " _Not willing to take on the challenge, Astrid? I had hoped you might do well with slower training, but I suppose I was wrong. It seems you do well only when necessity demands it of you. And if you can only work under pressure, then I don't know why I'm even here."_

" _Oh, don't you try that with me,"_ she narrowed her eyes. " _You know what you're asking. And I know my own strengths, too."_

" _Do you, now?"_ He asked her. " _Try it then. Prove to yourself that you're not ready, if not just for me. Your vision is perfectly fine at night, for one — we both know that. In fact, you should be in your element, by all means. We were born to thrive at night, more than any other dragon. You know you can do this."_

Her gaze travelled up the cliff face, the same she had struggled to scale just a few weeks ago, all the way to the smirking Night Fury at the top. She cursed him for the umpteenth time in her mind. He _knew_ she needed this. Just like he _knew_ she would rarely back down from a challenge.

" _Fine,"_ she snapped. " _What do I do first?"_

* * *

Unfortunately, Astrid discovered that she was half-decent at takeoff.

One of the biggest problems younger or more inexperienced dragons with large wingspans had, Toothless told her, was not generating enough lift on the first downward thrust of their wings. One would think larger wings would make it easier, but in fact, the awkwardness of their size could make it hard to do so properly. In her fused anger and determination, though, Astrid almost always managed to heave her wings down hard enough to create a dust cloud on the spot nearly sixty feet wide.

The result of this, then, was her being launched at least a dozen feet into the air her first try, to which she immediately panicked and fell to the ground.

It took several attempts before Toothless could convince her to even try giving another flap of her wings, and even then the resistance she felt — her _weight_ — stopped her short of giving as powerful a thrust as she could from the ground. Paired with the time crunch that was falling back to the ground, she quickly learned to bring her wings up much faster on her second flap, not spending the time ensuring they were perfectly aligned with one another, bracing herself beforehand, and so on. From this, she learned to make her initial launch faster, too.

Everything was going well, in fact, and Astrid was beginning to begrudgingly admit to herself that, as always, Toothless had been right… Until they got to the real challenge.

According to Toothless, three quick flaps after a running start, in succession, followed by a short, straight glide could, if she angled her wings, base-tail-wings and tailfin just so, carry her to the cliff's edge. " _Simple enough,"_ he told her.

By her twenty-second attempt, Astrid disagreed.

" _Gods, damn this stupid hole to hel itself! This is crazy!"_ Astrid screeched as she swept sideways back down into the cove after another unsuccessful and short-lived flight, her body parallel to the cliff face and probably even looking graceful for a split second before she half-crashed into the ground.

She stomped her feet into the dirt, spinning her head around to find something to punch, before remembering she wasn't even capable of that anymore. It didn't exactly help to quell her rage.

" _Gah!"_ She cried out. " _No! I'm done. We haven't even touched tailfin positions, yet, and you and I both know how important those are. The same goes for my tail-wings, too! You can't just expect me to pick this stuff up on my own, Toothless, not when I've had this form a fraction of the time you have! You know what? Screw this. I'm going to train the way I should be, starting with… Toothless?"_

It was at that moment she chose to look up to the perch Toothless usually watched her from, expecting to see him staring down at her in his usual visage of disappointment.

He wasn't there.

She frowned. She was sure he had been there a moment before, staring down at her in disappointment. Had he… Left, just like that? It wasn't usually how he finished off their sessions — then again, they _did_ usually end with an argument, anyway. But it didn't seem like him to just leave her there like that, not in the middle of a goal he had set for her, anyway. Of course… It would be _just_ like him to do that, in all his arrogance. Maybe he would return the next night to see if she had mastered it, choosing to use her previous days of practice as an indication of how she usually learned. Maybe this was some sort of 'lesson,' of his…

" _Toothless?"_ She tried again, not entirely sure where she was directing the message to; she had never really done it without being able to _see_ him, not intentionally, anyway.

Still, he didn't respond. This time, she brushed it off with a huff. It probably _was_ just Toothless being, well, _Toothless…_

Shaking her head, she crossed the cove and lined up for another run.

 _Wings up, tailfin straight out, not dragging,_ she told herself, checking each. Then, she ran, and… Lifted off.

She would never get over the feeling, of course — the purity and harmony of that first leap into the air, of her feet lifting out from under her. This wasn't just jumping, or gliding, this was _flying,_ something she now realized she had only ever really caught a glimpse of as a rider _._ Still, though, she had learned to push it to the back of her mind — at least for the time being — until she could get the hang of stabilization and controlled flight, or else she lost focus.

 _Second downward flap,_ she instructed herself as soon as she began to feel the pull of gravity on her form. _Tailfin extended, tail-base flaps at half, tail straight, wings parallel— third downward flap._

Yet again, she heaved down with her wings as she lost height, then felt for each of her limbs' positions, running another check. _Tailfin extended to full, tail lowered to gain lift, tail-base flaps at three-quarters, wings curved up… no, dow—GAH!_

Her eyes were met with the sight of the oncoming cliff face, now only a few feet in front of her and, yet again, she was forced to bank her wings hard to the left or run straight into the wall. After another rough landing and a round of cursing, she glanced back up at the cliff.

Toothless still wasn't there.

 _I'm sure it's fine,_ she told herself. _He's probably just screwing with me for the fun of it, knowing him, or waiting to see me give up._

She _had_ seen a change in him, after all — he did seem more Toothless-like, the snarky comments and sarcasm returning in the full force she had glimpsed shortly when they had first met — first _truly_ met, that was. That had been a part of her plan, anyway, however annoying the results were to her. But if he had disappeared, that could mean… No. He was just fooling around. She knew he was.

Again, she trotted across the cove and began her preparations, though more hastily this time. Again, she launched, but rushed through each of her checks, and didn't make it past the second thrust of her wings before everything went wrong, like it always did.

This time, she found herself nose-diving into the ground, and her wings snapped out just before she reached it, sending her into a short upward arc, before she immediately pulled them back in and landed softly on the ground. She made a mental note of it — it was a maneuver that would make things a lot less painful in her future attempts, assuming she could learn how to do it on _purpose_ …

" _Toothless,"_ she tried again, worry clear in her thoughts, if he could even hear them. Yet again, there was no response.

She stopped trying for a moment to pace around the cove, by her takeoff position. She was sure he was just messing with her. She _knew_ it. But then… he could be having an attack. It seemed more likely the more she thought about it. Hiccup had said he had been hiding them, and the one time he could do that from them was at night, when he was asleep… But no, he couldn't _control_ when they happened, surely… Unless he was suppressing them, somehow…

Refusing to look up at the ledge, she growled, and took off again.

She was about to make her second flap before a screech from the forest above reached her ears.

" _Toothless!"_ She called out as she landed roughly, whatever forced disregard of the dragon's sudden absence she had been clinging to falling away.

But still, there was no response, and her mind and the forest grew quiet once again. Growling, she ran to her takeoff point and tried again.

 _Tailfin extended, tail-base wings— ah, screw it!_ She yelped as she reached the second flap of her wings, her tailfin already folded in, and made to land again. Her wings pointed up as her tail went down, though, and she screeched as she first hit the wall, then fell down to the ground, hard enough to bruise, on her back. Groaning, she folded her wings in and flipped herself back over.

The mid-flight checks were never going to work — she had known that from the start. She didn't do that as a human — never had. Practice helped, of course, but she had always taught herself to be _fluid_ from the beginning, as well, just like Toothless had described. In battle, there was no time to stop and check that her stance or form was correct in each swing of her axe. It was only natural that the same would apply with flying, especially with how much it required. She was being a fool. But the only other option was…

She had seen what happened when she gave in to her instincts, as she assumed Toothless would tell her to do if he were there. But with what had almost happened with Hiccup, and Toothless... What _had_ happened with Stormfly… She couldn't. But if something had happened to Toothless, and it was the only way...

No, she refused to believe that was her only option. There must've been something else she could do, some other way out of the cove. She had gotten out of it before, even if she had since lost that route. But now she had _wings_ — or could use them, anyway _._ She could do… _something._ She _had_ to do _something._ She had to find Toothless.

Her eyes darted around the cove. The boulder — good. That could function as a higher launch point than jumping, but it was nearly next to the wall. However, if she could fly alongside it, and somehow turn in midair before she reached the cliff, then _maybe_ she could make it. There was enough space between the rock and the cliff lengthwise for the three flaps, but they would have to be quicker than any she had tried before.

The rough calculations and plan passed through and were approved by her mind in less than a second. Soon, she was on the rock, and then, in the air.

Her wings pumped downward in perfect unison, her tailfin leveling itself as if it had a mind of its own. She didn't notice. Her mind was twenty feet in front of her for the few seconds she flew — she had to find Toothless.

She ground her teeth as another precious second passed. She had reached the height of the entry point. The break in the trees and rock, the lowest point on the cliff in the cove, was coming up on her right. But it was small, barely large enough to fit her body, never mind her whole wingspan if she glided into it straight-on, and she was still completely parallel to the stone. If she angled her wings she could make the turn as sharply as she needed to, but her right was bound to catch on something as she swept in, both breaking it _and_ sending her back down to the ground — another calculation she had taken into account before takeoff, but had chosen to ignore.

It was too late, now, anyway. She was out of time.

Letting out a screech, she _commanded_ her body to angle itself into the opening, unsure of what would happen. In response, her right tailfin folded, as well as her right tail-base wing, and she banked harshly to the right, suddenly facing the entrance. Her wings folded tightly against her body just before they were both clipped by the sides of the opening, and she flew in, underbelly skidding along the rocks. Her whole torso slammed against a tree at least a hundred years in age, half-uprooting it and sending it into a precarious tilt, before she crashed to the ground with a groan.

She had made it.

She sat there for a moment as she came out of her shock, her vision filling in as the white tint from the crash faded away. Then, slowly, aching and feeling sick, she brought herself up on shaky feet, and took a step forward. Then another. Not the pride of her accomplishment nor the pains from her crash even began to dawn on her, not yet — she had to find Toothless.

" _Toothless!"_ she called again, panic now clear as glass in her tone.

 _Oh, gods, what if something finds him while he's having an attack_? She worried. He would be defenseless, _trapped_. It was the middle of the night — things, people, _creatures_ could hide more easily then, however improved both his and her vision were.

She opened up her own senses — hearing, smelling, anything that could give her some indication of his proximity to her, despite her lack of expertise with any of them at all. She'd only had minor experience with tracking and hunting as a human, and only knew how to read and search for prints. Her body went on full alert, though, and her head swiveled as she slowly turned around in place.

Her ears suddenly perked up, as they caught onto the sound of rustling to her left—!

She leapt onto the creature, sending it flying to the ground on its back as she growled from deep in her throat.

" _Good instincts,"_ it said, smiling up at her through two rows of near-identical, pointy whites.

Eyes narrowed, she clambered off of Toothless, letting him deftly flip back over and shake himself off before she barked at him.

" _Where were you?"_

" _Waiting."_

Her brows only bent down further. " _For what?"_

" _You, of course,"_ he said, shooting her another smirk.

" _This isn't funny, Toothless,"_ she told him, snarling. " _I thought you were… I thought something had happened to you."_

His smile fell, just a little. " _It was necessary for you to succeed."_

She stared at him in disbelief. Surely, he wouldn't use his disease, his attacks as _bait?_ As…

" _An incentive,"_ he finished for her, nodding at her blank, horrified stare. " _I did tell you, after all. You really should work on your listening skills sometime."_

" _I risked life and limb to save you! Literally!"_ She snarled. " _And it was all some sort of sick joke?! You bastard, I should kill you!"_

" _Fine,"_ he shot back, growling as he lowered himself into a crouch. " _But you'll need to get out of your own head first."_

" _I… What?"_ She shook her head, some of her anger fleeting. Toothless's only seemed to grow.

" _Don't lie to me, Astrid,"_ he narrowed his eyes. " _Since the day you transformed into one of us, you've been denying it ever even happened. That it happened to_ you. _We've both known that — but I'd hoped by now, at least, you'd stopped."_

Her eyes widened. " _I have! Even as much as I hate it! How the hell do you think I got up here? How do you think I was able to even ask you how to fly?"_

" _Detachment,"_ he hissed back at her, drawing out the word along his tongue as if to speak it alone were something forbidden.

Astrid took a step back, wary. " _What are you talking about, Toothless?"_

" _When you learned how to walk in this form,"_ he accused her, " _you never learned to move your legs, your feet, your claws. You taught your mind to command your body to move to the stream, or the tree, or the cove."_

" _... Yes,"_ she responded. " _But I don't see how—"_  
" _When you learned to use your tail, you did not learn how to move it,"_ he snapped, gnashing his teeth and shutting her up. " _Not for more than a second, at least. You learned to tell it to move, and it did. And so it still has."_

She didn't respond.

" _When you learned to move your wings, however… That was different. You felt for them, more than just at first, didn't you? Why was that?"_

" _I don't know,"_ she growled.

" _We both know, Astrid,"_ he told her, snapping his jaw shut. " _But that's not the point. Because it doesn't matter."_

" _You think I really wanted to teach you that way, Astrid? Having you practice drills, taking it all one single muscle at a time? A small part of me, maybe, hoped you would get it that way. It was how you learned as a human, after all, and obviously well enough for their kind. But instead, you've only proven me right."_

His eyes travelled over to the cove as he finished, and he walked over to stare down into it as he continued, " _I can understand if you wish this hadn't happened to you, Astrid. I'm not telling you to accept this as a permanent reality. But just… Get used to it, at least. You're not dooming yourself by accepting your new form. You're doing just the opposite. Wouldn't the Chief, your friends, be proud of you if they saw how well you could adapt to this, how you could even take pride in it?"_

" _They might think I'm a lunatic,"_ she muttered, before wondering if he even knew what the word meant.

" _Don't tell me that,"_ he retorted. " _I don't believe for a second you're so fragile. That you're afraid to accept what's happened to you in front of those you care about, because you think you'll be shunned and outcast. But there's no one here, Astrid. Just you. You and your fantasies of what could have been, if this had never happened to you."_

His words lingered in her mind even long after he spoke them, hung in the air between them as he continued to glare down into the cove. The dragon's seemingly random anger and words had come suddenly enough to send her into a trembling fit, staring at the ground in shock. He spoke the truth. But to hear him actually _say it,_ with such pinpoint accuracy, was something else. Where had it even come from? Why did he even care so much? She found herself building up the courage to speak before she did, searching for the right words, something completely unfamiliar to her.

" _I… I miss my parents, Toothless,"_ she said, softly as she could manage.

He didn't respond. He didn't even turn around.

" _Am I ever going to see them again? Will I ever to be able to talk to them again, to hold their hands in my own, and tell them I'm alright, that I love them? Will I ever see my own wedding, have my own kids?"_ she shook her head. " _How could I ever hope to show the people I care about who I still am, without them seeing me as some sort of… of…"_ she sighed as the word died in her mind. _Monster._

He remained facing away, still and silent as a boulder in a storm. She pushed on. " _Even if I do ever turn back, Toothless, what if… What if I'm not the same? What if I'm not… Me, anymore? What if I get so used to_ this, _this body, these wings,_ _that… that when I do, I don't..."_

She sighed again. The moon passed over above them, beginning its descent down to the earth. Eventually, she groaned in weariness, and went over to sit down next to him.

His face was unreadable, his eyes staring so blankly down into the cove that she began to worry he was starting to have an attack, until he turned to her. His eyes were wide open, but only seemed to be half-looking at her, as if she were nearly transparent, or not even there at all. As if he were... _searching,_ for something... No, not searching, she decided. _Waiting._

" _Fine,"_ she agreed, when his eyes and the silence became too unsettling for her to bear any longer. " _I'll start being more… adaptive. More accepting. No more… Detachment. This is my body, after all, at least for now. It'll be more helpful for everyone if I stop trying to run away from it, anyway. From now on, these… These are my wings, my tail, this is_ me. _I'll start seeing it that way. I promise... If,"_

The fog in his eyes vanished, and he raised his brow. She narrowed her eyes at him, taking advantage of his sudden attention.

" _If… You promise me you'll never use your illness that way with me, or anyone else, again…"_

He nodded slowly, but kept his eyes narrowed, as if he knew she wasn't finished. Yet again, he was right.

" _And, if you tell me the truth about what's been happening to you. What this… Illness, is. The whole truth."_

He kept staring at her. For a moment, she regretted asking, her usual confidence failing her under his impassive expression. Maybe she had gone too far. This was a line that he was rarely willing to cross — except to scare her into flying up to the ledge, apparently — and she just had. She had never really expected him to agree to it, of course — it was only to show how serious she was about the former. But what if he quit, stopped giving her lessons? What if he stopped talking to her altogether, receded back into himself once again? What if he—

" _Deal,"_ he nodded, and Astrid had to blink.

Had he just… Agreed _?_

He turned back to the cove. " _What I did today was… Wrong. Very wrong. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that. I… I shouldn't have…"_

His eyes started to glaze over again, before he caught himself, and growled at nothing in particular. " _And it's time I tell… Someone, at least. And if anyone were to understand…"_

 _It would be another Night Fury,_ she finished in her mind, allowing herself a small smile. The implication of his unspoken words did worry her, but he was finally, _finally_ going to tell her, and that was enough to make her forget about it.

" _As for the truth…"_ she sucked in her breath, only to hear him sigh. " _Not now. Tomorrow. Tomorrow night, when I come back… Everything."_

She resisted the urge to complain — he needed time, after all. The gods only knew how much. She hoped he saw the same good in it that she did. Even she knew when too much was too much.

" _Of course, I expect you to hold up your end of the bargain,"_ he told her, his voice hardening, just a little. In response, she jumped to her feet, reinvigorated by the idea that they were getting somewhere, for once.

She raised her head high. " _Yes, I will. I promise, on my honor as a Viking. I'll change."_

" _Good,"_ he said, looking down to the bottom of the cove below them, then back at her with a smirk. " _And since you're up here… I assume you know what your next task is?"_

She groaned as she followed his gaze. Seeing her despair, Toothless laid himself down on the ground, giving a wide and long yawn.

" _And, of course, you still haven't completed your goal. Once you get back down there, you're going to practice this until you get it right — I don't care if it takes all night."_

" _You got it,"_ she said, suppressing a wince at the thought of what she had agreed to. For Toothless, she told herself. For her friend.

As she lined up at the ledge, gauging the length she would be gliding and trying to figure out how to avoid both the woods and the lake, the dragon gave a dry snort. " _Humans…"_

She raised a brow, her wings lowering slightly. " _What was that?"_

" _Ah, nothing,"_ he told her, smiling. " _It's just… Well, funny, I suppose I did agree to tell you the truth…"_

He sighed as he turned his head to face her, casually. " _Maybe I should start with what Hiccup kept telling himself he was going to ask you tomorrow."_

* * *

Again, Sylvi ran. For once, not from anything.

A huge crowd was gathered in the village, stretching all the way from the most inland point of the island, at the base of the treeline of their small woods, to the sea, forming a wall of bodies along the main road that blocked off any view of it from the outside. It was dead silent, with the exception of the occasional sob or cry ringing out above the rooftops.

It was larger, much larger, than usual. But nothing new.

Her feet caught on jagged stones and sharp twigs on the road leading to the village as she sprinted toward it on short legs. She was still wearing her nightclothes — she had only woken up a few minutes ago. Not that her shoes or actual clothes would have been much better. Tears, the reason for which her brain didn't understand, streamed down her face and were swept by the wind out behind her as she approached the line. All she knew was that when she had woken up, the house was empty. So, she left to look for her family, ignoring the still-burning fires in the house she was tasked with putting out when she was the only one there. She needed to find her family. She needed to find her brother.

She was crying, though, by the time she reached the village. Maybe it was the wails that reached her ears from the village as she flew toward it that brought them out of her. Maybe it was because she had found her house was already half-burnt down when she woke up, as she had fallen asleep huddled in a corner last night in the raid, instead of doing her duty by putting the fires out.

Maybe it was because, for the first time in as long as she could remember, her brother hadn't been there when she had woken up.

Despite training, his duties or even full-out raids, he had always been there in the morning, smiling to himself in the kitchen as he read a book or grimacing as he sharpened his sword at the table. Sometimes he was merrily whittling away at some small log he had picked up in the woods with a knife, others he was tending, giving wounds stitches and wiping dragon's blood, mixed with his own, off his clothes, dried and crusted overnight after falling asleep in a chair the moment he got home. But no matter what, he was always there. And this morning, he wasn't. He wasn't outside, either, or on the road to the village, nor could she pick him out of the crowd around it. So... Where else could he be? Where was her big brother?

Despite the confusing nature of the concept for her, paired with the strength of her will not to believe it, in truth, she already knew the answer. And so, the tears came.

The first light of dawn was reaching up and over the horizon when she got there, sending shadows leaping from the houses of the village across the ground, casting the entire island and its inhabitants in a dull, orange glow, making them seem almost set aflame — some had been only hours before.

Through the moisture in their corners, however, her eyes did catch sight of someone. Hunching more than standing near the docks, she was relatively alone aside from a few other bystanders on the main street through the village. An onlooker might have said she looked weak, pale, cold and fragile as a thin strip of wood in the winter as she stood there with half-glazed eyes, gazing out at an impossible truth so many others had already been forced to face. When Sylvi looked, she saw only her mother.

Her legs, aching by that point, carried her to her side, and she grabbed and clung to her mother's leg like a bear cub chased up a tree by wolves. Brenna looked down at her slowly, seeming only half-aware of her appearance. Her face, too, was streaked with tears alongside fresh scars, and dark bags hung low under her eyes.  
"Sylvi," she said, throat catching as she gave her daughter a forced smile. "Your… Your father is… Gone. Not here. He's in… in the…"

Brenna gave a sniff, seeming as if she was about to break down herself, and stared out at the long, empty corridor leading to the docks, where several ships rocked softly in the water, waiting.

Sylvi frowned. It was true — her father was nowhere to be found. Then she turned back to her mother. "But where's—"

Hew question was interrupted by a deep, booming beat of a drum, followed by another. They seemed to rock the very ground as they beat, in the silence of the village around them.

Then the procession began.

A river of white slowly swept its way down through the village, carried by men. From a distance, it seemed to be just that. Wherever the river reached, shouts and cries from the bystanders erupted. Some stood strong, others collapsed, if not to the ground then onto one another, curling into shivering forms in the dirt as they witnessed the unimaginable.

Burial shrouds covered the bodies of the deceased. Dozens upon dozens were making their slow journey through the village to the docks. Two men carried each body, placed on long planks, most of which were no more than scraps of wood or remains of the houses burnt down the night before. The drums kept beating.

Her mother cried out at something when almost all of the bodies had been placed on the ships. It was a moment before Sylvi spotted it.

Her brother's sword laid bent on one plank, no more than ten feet in front of her, barely at her eye level. Next to it was a covered shape, with a white shroud draped over it of its own. It wasn't even clean.

"N-no," she stuttered, mouth quivering as it slowly passed her, as her mind tried to wrap itself around just what was happening in front of her.

No, she couldn't believe it. She wouldn't.

"No!"

She broke free from her mother and raced toward the shroud. The second, rear carrier faltered and sneered down at her for a moment, before he recognized her face, and sighed. She never looked up, eyes glued to the form in front of her. Her breathing was quick, and rapid, as her hand stretched out to the cloth. She had to know. She had to see for herself, even then. She had to know he was… That he was gone.

Another hand snatched hers away before her fingers could so much as graze the cloth.

"Ye'd dishonor yer' own family members, girl?!" a gruff voice sneered from behind her. She peered up the length of the arm connecting the hand that still gripped her own to see a crooked, fat face that might've been drawn by a child, with a beard that brought to her mind the old and ugly charcoal of a dead fire.

"You should teach yer' daughter some manners, Brenna," lopsided brows bent downward over mud-brown eyes at her mother.

"And you should keep your hands off my children, _Bjarke,"_ she said, slapping his hand away. "The girl's just lost her brother, my _son_. The boy _you_ were meant to watch over. Her father's drinkin' himself to death at the mead hall. What do you expect her to do?"

His frown only deepened, and though he spoke to her mother, his eyes were still settled on Syl. "Is that an accusation?"

She pulled Syl back against her, protectively. "No more than what ye' deserve, Bjarke. You were with my son. You were supposed to protect 'im. Ye' knew it wasn't safe to let him lead a party into the woods, and yet you _told him to_ , anyway. Ye' promised us ye'd protect him. I'll never forget that, not so long as I live."

"He was a man grown, Brenna," Bjarke told her, anger seeping through his thick tongue. "We both know 'e was a fighter. But the boy was headstrong. It was his own foolishness that got 'im killed, no fault of mine."

Syl blinked through her tears, picking up some of the conversation. Foolish? No, her brother wasn't foolish. He was smart. Much smarter than Bjarke. That couldn't have been. Her brother wasn't foolish… He was smart, and careful, and…

"How _dare_ you—" Her mother recoiled, slapping Bjarke straight across the face. He growled loud enough for people to turn and stare, and raised his fist, ready to bring it down on her as she cowered. But just before he went to swing through, he stopped. His eyes almost seemed to gloss over for a moment and trailed up to the horizon, as if suddenly staring at something far away, and his fist fell to his side. After a moment, though, he shook his head, huffed, and stalked away into the crowd, muttering under his breath, "A great disrespect..."

Her mother stared at him a moment in disgust, before looking down at Syl with a sigh. "Oh, Syl… I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. It wasn't meant to end like this. It wasn't meant to be this way. But these things happen in raids. It's our… way of life. We'll get past it, all of us… We need not worry ourselves with the past..."

Syl stopped listening. Because her eyes had trailed back to the shrouds. To where they were loading the forms onto two ships already full of bodies, where they would soon be sent into the bay and lit aflame.

"No, please" She cried out. "Please… Please… Don't take him away, please…! No… No—"

"NO!"

Syl's eyes snapped open to a dim light in darkness. For a moment, she panicked, confused and frightened by her surroundings. Her whole body shook, quivered with fear. She was… Sitting, somewhere. In a chair. Something was on her forehead, and a glowing light hovered in front of her face. There was something else heavy on her lap.

Gothi's eyes watched her over the light of a candle. Her expression was concerned, yet curious, as if she had just discovered a strange, frightened and injured little creature in the forest and wasn't yet sure what to do with it. Syl might have cursed her out if she weren't so terrified herself. She took several deep, quick breaths, and Gothi raised a finger to her mouth to make a "Shh" noise, resting a surprisingly soft hand on her arm.

Syl looked down, ignoring her. There was a book on her lap — an encyclopedia of remedies Gothi had told her to study at her request to be taught only a few nights before. She had fallen asleep reading it in the chair, she realized — Gothi had permitted her to move about the room, though it still hurt to do anything but shuffle. It was humiliating, but she had long since learned to take the lack of movement in stride. She needed to heal — she could accept that.

She hugged the book against her chest like a pillow, shivering. It was then that she realized what was on her forehead, and reached up to snatch it off. A flask of cool water, warmed by the heat of her forehead, rested there, no doubt something Gothi had placed there as soon as she started panicking in her sleep. She let it fall into her lap, on the book.

The elder stood and stepped back, staring at her warily. Still, Syl ignored her, aside from mumbling something along the lines of "I'm fine." Inside, she was still ensnared, surrounded by her own nightmares and visions as she desperately tried to drag herself back to reality. But what did reality matter when her own memories were so apparently wrong?

Her brother's funeral, the morning after the massacre… She didn't remember it that way. Bjarke's face, her mom's, all the families, mothers, fathers, and children crying or whimpering around her. They all screamed at her, yet faded to the back of her mind as the sight of her brother's shroud filled it. Her brother's _untouched_ shroud.

She was sure she had seen him. Had seen his face, had seen him _dead._ She had pulled back the cover, just for a second, had seen him there beneath it, before Bjarke quickly covered it, before he grabbed her and her mother yelled at him, before he was taken away and his body was burnt among the others in the bay.

But then... she couldn't imagine his face dead, _cold._ It was always warm, always smiling, eyes wide open and bright. There was _life_ in it, always _._ In all of him, a pulsating energy so strong it never failed to seep out of himself and into those around him. She _couldn't_ see him dead. She didn't — _couldn't —_ remember him that way. Maybe because she had never even _seen_ him that way…

Her head burned hot as sweat coated her skin, yet still she shivered in the darkness as Gothi left to get more water, taking the light of the candle with her.

Her brother was dead. She _had_ seen his face…

Hadn't she?

* * *

"No, no, that's not good," Hiccup told himself as they walked through the forest, throwing another snow gentian he had managed to scrounge up to the dirt. Toothless padded alongside him, clearly unimpressed by his decision to do this all together.

"Less, maybe… Ugh, what was I thinking? Flowers? Really, Hiccup?"

He threw the few still in his hands to the ground. Toothless sniffed at them for a moment, before purring in disappointment and joining him at his side.

They had landed a few hundred feet from the cove to walk, and had nearly reached the place he had first found Toothless after shooting him down, his footfalls becoming slower and slower the closer he got to the cove, sometimes coming to a complete stop before he urged himself on.

He had wanted to approach her on equal footing for this — not swoop down into the cove on Toothless like some prince on his dragon come to ask for her hand in marriage. Still, they would have to glide down into it thanks to the recent landslide, but this way he would look _somewhat_ more modest, he had reasoned.

"This is just stupid!" He said as they reached the treeline just before the lip of the cove. "Gods, this was a horrible idea… She'll just kill me the moment I say it… Why did I even think this would help anything? I should be doing research, or helping Gothi or Syl, or—"

A sharp nudge in his back that pushed him toward the cove sucked all his breath away from him, and he turned around to see Toothless staring at him, brow raised dubiously.

"... Or, helping remind Astrid that she's still a human," he whispered with a sigh. Grimacing, he clambered onto the dragon's saddle he had spent an hour and a half polishing that morning. "Right, bud… Thanks for that. Let's go."

The evening sky sent rays of faded, yellow-orange light down into the cove as they glided to its base. The colder nights left a frost over the few plants still alive in the morning, and a thin sheet of ice lingered at the corners and edges of the lake.

Astrid laid curled in a sunbeam, tail wrapped around her, though clearly out of comfort, not chill. Her eyes were closed, though she fidgeted every few seconds, chest rising and falling in steady breaths. She hadn't seemed to have noticed their arrival — or was at least making it look that way.

He forced himself to push the thought of their most recent meeting out of his mind. She'd had a nightmare. It was... understandable, that she would react that way when she woke up. That was what he chose to tell himself. She threatened to kill him often enough, anyway, so the whole event hadn't come as as much of a surprise to him as it probably should've. Seeing those talons raised above his head, though… The way she had bared her teeth and snarled at Toothless, how _real_ it had seemed, beyond just a threat or warning… He had to suppress a shiver as they landed, for her sake.

She opened a half-lidded, curious eye as he dismounted, before getting up to walk over to them. He swallowed, and stepped around Toothless to face her.

His hands curled into balls at his side, his arms plastered against his torso. He took a nervous, clumsy step forward, then another, feeling as though he was walking to the execution block. With Astrid, there was always distinct possibility that he _was_ , to be fair. And this would be no exception.

"... Astrid," he managed. She raised an eyebrow casually, taking another step forward from where she had stopped to face them, and he winced, trying to imagine that his legs were frozen in place to stop him from immediately bolting off into the woods. It was cold enough, there — or should have been, anyway. As far as Hiccup was concerned, he could have used a blizzard just then… Or maybe hail, as long as it was big enough to knock him out where he stood.

"Astrid…" He repeated. "Hi, uh, Astrid…"

Her eyebrow raised even higher, but she nodded slowly.

"I came to ask you…" His eyes snapped shut, and he felt his teeth biting down into his lower lip hard enough to draw blood. "Ask you… About… About the… Book. The Compendium, I, uh… Like I said last time I, ah… Saw, you… Gothi told me there's some sort of magic society, or… People, or there were, anyway… And I was wondering what you thought of an idea I had—"

Yet again, a sharp nudge from his back cut him short, and he found himself stumbling forward, toward Astrid. He wasn't more than two feet in front of her face by the time he was able to stop himself — far enough away that he could probably still escape in a pinch, but still more than close enough to see the disappointment in her eyes.

"I… Right," he puffed up his chest with air as much as he could, more out of fear of passing out than to look like he had any semblance of confidence left in him. "Astrid… What I came down here to ask you, was if… If…"

This time, Astrid just snorted, and rolled her eyes, before bending her head down to the ground.

"Right," he pursed his lips. "This is going about as well as I figured it would—"

He glanced downward. Astrid wasn't ignoring him, he realized — she was writing something. The ability to miss such an obvious fact, he decided, was a testament to his history dealing with girls in general.

After a moment, she stepped back to let him read, and awaited his reaction, the raised brow on her face more or less impassive.

 **TOOTHLESS ALREADY TOLD ME**

 **WHAT YOU WANTED TO ASK ME**

 **HICCUP**

 **WHAT YOU REALLY CAME DOWN HERE FOR**

Hiccup stared at the words for a full minute. Even then, it took another twenty seconds for their meaning to even register over the dull void that his mind had just become.

"I… He…" He blinked, then spun sluggishly in place to point a finger half-heartedly at the black Night Fury behind him. "Y-you…"

The dragon stared at him with wide eyes for a moment, head tilted to the side, before giving a quick shrug, and lying down on the spot for a nap.

"I…" He said again, turning back to Astrid, who was still watching him expectantly. "... Am an idiot. A complete idiot."

He ground his teeth together, burying his face in his hands. As a result, the first half of his rant came out muffled and almost completely unintelligible.

"I just wanted to do something for you. Gods forbid I try to confide that in my best friend! _Why?!_ Why would you _do_ that? Gods, why did I ever think this was going to work, anyway? Something was gonna go wrong. It _had_ to go wrong! I can never just _accomplish_ or even _try_ things without creating ten problems at the same time! I—"

He was yelling now, almost crying, at the lake, forest, and sky, stomping around frantically in a twenty-foot radius, as if he were addressing an invisible crowd. Eventually, when his voice began to give out, he closed his eyes, and turned back around.

"I just… I wanted to… Help you, somehow. It's been weeks of just… _Nothing._ I know how awful it must be to sit down here, day after day. I can't even imagine how it is to be a… a… well, you know. And I feel like, all this time, all this running around, going to _war_ and I've just… I've done _nothing._ Nothing for Berk, nothing for you… I… I just wanted to make you feel like… Like you were still…"

He opened his eyes, and had to stop his mouth from dropping open.

She was sitting upright, staring down at him with all the audacity in the world. Toothless did it often enough, sure, usually whenever he wanted to mock him somehow, hind legs bent and tail and wings laying casually behind him just as she was — it was still just a little eerie each time, though, and never failed to serve as a reminder of just how close their species really were. The same applied here — but it was more than that. Her arms were crossed over her chest, nose raised high, only just barely low enough to let him see her eyes narrowed sharply at him. It was so incredibly, unmistakably _Astrid_ that he was struck speechless, not even a muffled stutter able to crawl its way up his throat.

She kept staring at him. Eventually, she smirked, and gave a deep snort from her nostrils.

He managed a measly "Heh," letting his shoulders relax just a bit as the noise left his body on a sudden exhale.

They kept staring at each other, her eyes ever-knowing, him letting a small, wary smile creep onto his own face. Then, leisurely, but not without respect, she nodded at him to proceed, and uncrossed her arms.

He blinked. She had just absolutely, unwittingly proven to him that _she didn't need him to reassure her of her humanity,_ and yet… she was still letting him continue, even knowing what he was going to say.

Though she loomed above him, her shadow was cast to her side by the setting sun. Soon, he found himself nodding, and then, eventually bending down to one knee. He wasn't sure why. It just felt appropriate.

"Right," he spoke, more to himself than her. "Astrid Hofferson,"

She nodded again, and he sucked in his breath.

"I… I like you. I really do… A lot. And I… Just want you to know that… I really care about you, and… I know we're having… Difficulties, right now, with… things. And I hope that once we get this all sorted out, we can be more… Normal, together. Or as normal as it gets around here, anyway. But the truth is, you're still you, and really, I should've done this a long time ago, for better or worse. Astrid…"

He looked up into her fierce, lightning-blue eyes with a timid half-smile to match them. "Will you… Will you be my girlfriend?"

The question came out with all the bravado and grace of the chirps of a terrible terror. Still, she purred and rolled her eyes, before descending slowly back down to all four legs, at his eye level, where she had towered above him not a moment before.

"So…" he breathed, the tiniest bit of genuine concern sneaking through in his tone. "Should… Should I take that as a n—!"

Just then, Astrid suddenly pushed her forehead down against his chest, softly, but not without enough force to knock all the wind out of him — or what little there was left — and push him back a step.

"I… Uh…" he tried, wheezing. Astrid didn't move, but crooned at him, carrying out the note for a moment as if to tell him something. Still partially in shock, as his senses returned to him, he slowly found himself wrapping his arms around her, giving what just barely qualified as a hug, before closing his eyes and choosing to enjoy the moment — even after hearing a derisive, draconic snort from behind him.

After a stretch of time long enough for the shadows around them to lengthen had passed, he risked talking again. "So… a yes, then?"

She pulled away, but when she looked up at him, she was smiling again, a devious glint in her eye that made the message clear; _I'll let you figure that out for yourself._

"I… Okay," he said, clearing his throat. "I… I think I can live with that."

She tilted her head ever-so-slightly, the same smile and keen look still gracing her features.

"Of course," he continued, "A solid answer would be nice… And we can sort of talk to each other, and all, so if you could, y'know, let me know sometime, maybe not today, but..."

His voice trailed off as he noticed Astrid's smile had fallen into a concerned frown. She was staring at something just beyond him, behind him. Suddenly worried something had happened — or _was_ happening — to Toothless, he spun around on a heel.

The dragon had his nose nearly straight up in the air, twitching, ears pointed at attention, and eyes narrowed. He raised up on two legs for a moment, as though trying to catch something else, before he dropped back down to all fours, staring at Astrid for a moment before gesturing at Hiccup with a nod.

"What… What is it?" He asked, looking back at Astrid. She shook her head, the frown even deeper in her face than before, and bent down to write.

 **HE SAYS HE CAUGHT A SCENT**

 **HUMANS**

"Close?" He asked in a half-whisper, eyes shooting up to the edges of the cove above them.

 **NO**

 **FURTHER**

 **THE VILLAGE MAYBE**

"Then why would he be— why are _you_ so antsy all of a sudden?" he asked, looking back at the dragon. "It's Berk. We're a pretty fragrant village, if you hadn't noticed. And how could you even pick that up from here?" Toothless only narrowed his eyes down further.

Astrid shook her head.

 **NO**

 **HE SAYS THE SCENT IS STRONGER**

 **WHEN THERE ARE A LOT**

 **IN ONE PLACE**

"That still doesn't explain why… Oh," the words escaped him, as the color drained from his face.

He turned around and sprinted back to the dragon as fast as he could, turning back to her surprised face only as he was climbing on the saddle.

"Sorry, Astrid. If there's anything wrong, we'll come straight back here. Stay safe — hide if you think you have to."

She shot him a look that said _I can handle myself,_ but her eyes held the same fear as his. With one last grimace at her, he slid his metallic joint into the tailfin switch, and they took off for the village.

She had started writing another message before he left, but he hadn't needed to read it. He already knew what it would say. It was something he had learned from Toothless early on, when they first started scouting.

 _The scent is stronger when there are a lot of them… And when the scent is new._

* * *

They landed further into the village, avoiding the sea and, by extension, potential threats. It took him only a few seconds to find Gobber still hard at work in the forge.

"Aren't we under attack?" He demanded, leaning across the front counter. The Smith turned around with a raised brow, a dull sword clamped in an attachment on his arm.

"Attack? Not so far's I know. Say, 'iccup, where were ye' off to this mornin'? I told you last night I'd need your help around 'ere today. Got a lot of orders with the war 'n all comin',"

"I was… Busy, out doing something… Getting ready for something," he said. "But Toothless smelled humans. _New_ humans. Do you know where they are? Where's Dad?"

"Ah, well, I can give ye' one answer to both questions," he said. "Check the docks. It seems we've got our first shipment in."

"Our first…" He sighed in relief, and let his body slump down over the counter. Of course! The tribes his father was calling to Berk — it must just have been one of them, a closer tribe, maybe, as it hadn't taken them much time to get there. How could he have forgotten already? He had been so busy lately…

With a sigh, he began making his way to the docks after thanking Gobber— he would head back to Astrid after, he reasoned, once he had met whoever these newcomers were. He had missed their immediate arrival, but if the Chief's son could at least _be there_ to greet them, however late, it might not look so horrible for both his and Berk's reputation…

His stride faltered, however, as soon as he reached the planks leading to the docks. He found himself frozen in place, eyes fixed on the docks below him.

 _Not a new scent,_ he thought to himself, in horror. _A different one. Different from Berk. But not a new one._

A handful of small ships were clustered below him, like bodies huddled against one another for warmth, even within the safety of the bay. Some had gaping holes in their hulls, barely repaired with wood from barrels already onboard. Others appeared to have several feet of water already pooling on their decks. Although it took him a moment to make it out, piece each of them together and layer them on top of one another in his mind with the massive, burnt holes punched through many of them, the insignias on the sails were unmistakable.

It was the survivors of the Clouded Valley tribe. The tribe _he_ had abandoned.


End file.
